You had to almost expect it. Daniel Murphy, in his first series back at Citi Field since departing his former team for the Washington Nationals in free agency this past offseason, delivered in every way possible.
He went 4-for-11 in the series, with a homer and four RBI. His two-run bomb last night over the centerfield wall to start the scoring parade for the Nationals last night against Matt Harvey in the first inning was the big dagger to his former team.
“Just looking for something in the middle of the plate,” Murphy said. “We all know how dangerous Matt can be out there. His stuff is so sharp, and it’s got real explosion at the dish.”
“Fortunately, right there, I was able to get a breaking ball in the middle of the plate that I’m sure Matt was trying to bury. [He] and Kevin [Plawecki] were trying to bury that. I was able to get it in the middle of the plate and was able to hit it out of the ballpark right there and fortunately, it gave us a 2-0 lead.” (NY Post)
On the season, Murph is hitting just shy of .400 now as he sits at .397. His OBP is a tremendous .429, while his slugging sits at a current career high of .636. He has seemed to figure out a way to stick with whatever clicked for him in last year’s postseason. Murphy has been near unstoppable at the plate in the 2016 season. The series overall, was a big win for Murphy and his team.
“Big series for us,” Murphy said. “It’s really nice to go on the road and get two of three.”
It was a nice homecoming for Murph as he showed his old team that last postseason may not have been much of a fluke after all. Murphy has become one of the best pure hitters in the game.
