They broke our legs. We broke their hearts.
The Mets emerged with a gutty win in a winner-take-all Game 5 against the Dodgers on Thursday night in Los Angeles, earning themselves a date with the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS.
Jacob deGrom got the ball with the season on the line and battled through six innings to earn the win. Jacob allowed two runs on six hits and three walks, striking out seven.
The Mets faced a tall task in the form of Cy Young contender Zack Greinke. But in the top of the first, the Mets struck to grab an early lead. Curtis Granderson reached on an infield hit to lead off the ballgame (with a little help from a video review) and Daniel Murphy drove Granderson by hitting one to the wall in left-center for a double, taking third on an error.
But with one out and a runner on third, Greinke rebounded to strike out Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda, and the Mets were forced to settle for a single run. The Dodgers pounced on the opportunity to seize momentum, scoring two runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning against deGrom’s incredibly flat pitches.
Jacob continued to struggle in the next couple innings, but managed to work out of jams in the second and third innings to keep the Mets in the game.
Zack Greinke was 19-0 this season when given a lead. Was.
Murphy led off the top of the fourth with a single before Cespedes flied out. With one out, Duda worked a walk, and with the Dodger infield asleep and still in the shift, Murphy broke for third and reached easily as Duda ambled to first, somehow giving the Mets runners on the corners with one out. Travis d’Arnaud hit a fairly deep fly ball to right field, and Andre Ethier made the decision to catch it in foul territory, allowing Murphy to score the tying run.
After being taken off the hook, deGrom continued to be somewhat shaky, but fought his way through the middle innings despite some sloppy defensive plays. In the top of the sixth, Murphy came up big once again, pulling Greinke’s fastball over the right-field wall to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Given the lead once again, deGrom did his part in the bottom of the sixth with his first perfect inning of the night. Noah Syndergaard threw a scoreless inning in relief to get New York through the seventh, and Jeurys Familia stepped up with two perfect frames to close things out, retiring Chase Utley and four other Dodgers before striking out Howie Kendrick to send the Mets to the National League Championship Series.
This is unbelievable. There is still work to be done (the magic number is at 8), but I could not be prouder of this team. They deserve it and so do we as fans.
deGrom came out flat tonight out of the gate. It was ugly. But he kept the Mets in the game the whole way, coming up with the big pitches and big strikeouts when needed. There was practically no margin for error against Greinke, and deGrom slipped, but he hung on and gave the Mets six innings of two-run ball, which gave the Mets a chance.
It was huge for the Mets to get on the board so early and make it clear that Zack Greinke was not invincible. But Cespedes’ approach with one out and a guy on third was dreadful, as he swung for the fences when all he needed to do was put the ball in play. For a few innings, it seemed like that might haunt them.
But this team is different. We’ve seen it all year long and we saw it tonight. Daniel Murphy came up absolutely huge in this one and was the unquestioned MVP of this series. Tim Teufel probably saw his career flash before his eyes when he looked up and saw Murphy barreling towards him after that walk, but it was the right move and a move the Mets needed. Gutsy baserunning can swing a playoff game. See Damon, Johnny.
I’m stunned that Ethier chose to catch that ball in foul territory knowing that the tying run would score if he did so.
Syndergaard looked great out of the pen. It’s scary what he could do as a reliever, not needing to hold anything back. But his true value is as a starter, of course, and that might be why Terry pulled him after just one inning. Collins trusted Familia to finish the job and keep Syndergaard fresh enough to pitch game one or two against Chicago. Jeurys was more than game, and I’m glad it was him getting to celebrate on the mound after the final out, after the incredible job he’s done this year filling in for (and far surpassing) He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
The Cubs are a good, scary, dangerous team. But that will be talked about in the coming days. There are 4 teams left. We’re one of them. Bring it on.
Up Next: The Mets will host game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Cubs on Saturday night at Citi Field. Matt Harvey will face Jon Lester at 7:30 PM.
