Daniel Murphy was the hero for his hitting and baserunning while Jacob deGrom was the dodger for getting in and out of a number of jams.
Murphy smacked the go-ahead solo home run off Zack Greinke in the sixth inning to give the New York Mets a 3-2 lead in Game 5 of the NLDS. The score held and the Mets eliminated the Los Angeles Dodgers from the MLB postseason to advance to their first NLCS since 2006.
Greinke was handed the loss after allowing three earned runs on six hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out nine, but the damage had already been done.
Murphy also made a heads-up play in the fourth inning when he ran from first to third after Lucas Duda walked. The Dodgers had a shift on for Duda and third baseman Justin Turner did not get back to third in a timely fashion. Murphy then scored on a Travis d'Arnaud sacrifice fly to tie the game 2-2.
Murphy finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He began the scoring with an RBI double in the first and ended it with a solo home run in the sixth.
The rest of the Mets lineup went 4-for-29 with two walks.
deGrom tossed six innings and surrendered two earned runs on six hits and three walks and struck out seven. After the Dodgers scored two runs off the right-hander in the bottom of the first inning, deGrom regained his control, mixed up his pitches and maintained poise when the Dodgers managed to threaten on various occasions.
A leadoff double by Turner in the third was thwarted when deGrom fielded a ground ball from Kike Hernandez and turned a double play to end the inning. Joe Pederson then led off the fourth with a walk and Greinke bunted him over to second, but deGrom got Howie Kendrick to fly out and then struck out Corey Seager.
Turner doubled again with one out in the fifth, but deGrom got Andre Ethier to pop up when he jammed him with a 97-mph fastball and then struck out Yasmani Grandal to end the inning.
Noah Syndergaard came on in relief in the seventh inning and overwhelmed the top of the Dodgers' order with his fastball and buckling curveball. Kendrick grounded out, Seager struck out, Adrian Gonzalez walked and Turner struck out.
Closer Jeurys Familia then came on for the six-out save. He retired pinch-hitters Carl Crawford, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley as well as A.J. Ellis, Ethier and Kendrick. He struck out the final two batters to end the game.
Los Angeles finished 6-for-31 with four walks and 11 strikeouts and failed to score any runs beyond the first inning.
The Mets will have home-field advantage in the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs. Game 1 will take place on Saturday at Citi Field.
