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 Murphy's sixth-inning homer off Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke
was his third of the series and lifted the Mets into the NL
Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.
"Daniel was a tough out all series. To me he's always been a tough
out," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told reporters. "You kind of
have to get him off stride and get the ball to certain spots (or)
you're in trouble."
Mets starter Jacob deGrom (2-0) struggled early on but regrouped and
finished strong. He gave up two runs in the first but settled and
allowed six hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in six
innings.
Noah Syndergaard relieved deGrom and worked a scoreless seventh
before closer Jeurys Familia came on in the eighth for the six-out
save. Familia retired all six batters he faced.
Greinke (1-1), who might have pitched his last game for the Dodgers
since he can opt out of his contract, gave up three runs on six hits
with nine strikeouts and no walks in 6 2/3 innings.
The Mets jumped in front 1-0 in the first. With one out, Murphy's
double scored right fielder Curtis Granderson, who led off with an
infield hit.
Four consecutive singles in the bottom of the inning allowed the
Dodgers to rally. Third baseman Justin Turner and right fielder
Andre Ethier brought home shortstop Corey Seager and first baseman
Adrian Gonzalez for a 2-1 Los Angeles lead.
In the fourth, Murphy opened with a single and advanced to second on
a walk to first baseman Lucas Duda.
Murphy continued running past second and stole third on the walk, as
Turner left his position at third prematurely with no one covering
as he headed to the right side of the diamond for a shift on the
next batter, catcher Travis d'Arnaud.
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D'Arnaud hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Murphy and knotting
the score at 2-2.
"I'm not sure who was supposed to cover (third base), but no one was
there," Murphy said. "I'm not the fleetest of foot but I was just
fast enough to get there."
Turner, a former Met, doubled in the third and fifth innings to give
him a franchise-record six for the series, breaking Hanley Ramirez's
mark of four set in the 2013 NLDS against the Atlanta Braves.
"Everyone sincerely roots for the guy next to him here," Murphy said
of a Mets team seeking a first World Series appearance since 2000.
"It's a great group of guys and that's what makes this so much more
special."
The opener of the best-of-seven NLCS is at Citi Field in New York on
Saturday.
(Compiled by Peter Rutherford; Additional reporting by Jahmal Corner
in Los Angeles)
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