In the first inning against Jon Lester, Daniel Murphy blasted his fourth home run of the playoffs and ignited the Mets’ offensive attack. It continues to be an amazing run for Murphy, who now joins elite company after last night’s performance.
He tied the Mets’ record for the most home runs in single postseason with Carlos Delgado in 2006, Mike Piazza in 2000 and Rusty Staub in 1973.
His four home runs are also tied for the fourth most in history for a player during their first six playoffs games. The only other players to hit more are Ken Griffey, Juan Gonzalez and Carlos Beltran.
Murphy says he had the ability to hit like this during the season, but working with Kevin Long and being more aggressive at the plate helped take himself to the next level.
“No, really, I’ve said it before that if I knew what I was doing, I would have hit more homers during the regular season. But I think we really started hunting pitches in the middle of the plate in. So that was the biggest thing that we did.”
“I started getting a little more aggressive, so we kind of talked and found out what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses? And he really helped me to play as much as I could to one of my biggest strengths, I think, which is I don’t swing and miss a lot. So if I can get a good pitch to hit, there is a good chance I should be able to hit it hard.”
In addition to his great hitting, Murphy also made a great play on defense to end yesterday’s game. He robbed Tommy La Stella of a hit with two outs in the ninth with an excellent diving stop to his left.
“I don’t know if you saw, but I freaked out when I caught it, and then you’ve got to make the throw. Good thing Lucas is a fine target to throw to.”
A lot of people are stunned by Murphy’s performance, but they shouldn’t be too surprised. Murphy has been a solid hitter for years, and he always made a huge impact when he was locked in.
It’s great to see him emerge as such a key player in the playoffs, especially after all the criticism he dealt with the entire year. He’s proving all of his doubters wrong, and will be rewarded for it with a huge pay day when he hits free agency during the offseason.
