Greinke logged seven innings in the game, allowing the two runs on a pair of second-inning solo shots, by Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto.
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Syndergaard, who would be on regular rest, allowed three earned runs on five hits in Game 2 on Saturday. Though the first time nearly everything was on the line for the Dodgers who trailed in the series 0-1, this time everything is on the line for both the Dodgers and Mets in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS.
During that postseason losing streak, the longest in Dodgers history, he has received only eight runs of support in 29 1-3 innings. The bullpen provided four scoreless innings of relief, but that two-out rally in the third was the difference.
Besides an offensive outburst from the Mets and Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS, this has been a pretty low-scoring series as expected.
Kershaw settled down after a laborious 18-pitch first inning in which he went to a three-ball count on the first three batters. “And I think it’s important that we protect them”.
Of all people it was Kershaw who had singled to get things started that inning.
Sherman also added that Murphy’s defensive abilities could make him an AL team signing, wherein he could get a few time at as the designated hitter. On full rest, the only question will Greinke will be if he can keep his command in such a high-pressure spot, but as we’ve seen from him this past season, that usually isn’t much a concern for the Dodgers.
Johnny Cueto turned in a vintage-yet-surprising performance in Game 5 of the ALDS on Wednesday night in Kansas City, holding the visiting Astros to two runs over eight innings as the Royals marched to a 7-2 victory and advanced to the best-of-seven ALCS. His 1.66 ERA over 32 starts was the best in the major leagues.
Mets fans may have nightmares about Justin Turner this week, and not just because of his “heavy metal Amish leprechaun” look, as Sports Illustrated’s Emma Span described it. The team has to win two in a row to advance and they will have Zack Greinke ready to pitch if they can win this game.
Yet the crowd of 44,000 rocked with chants of “Utley Sucks” and “We Want Utley” as New York’s lead grew in the first postseason game played at Citi Field, which replaced Shea Stadium as the Mets’ home in 2009. When Chris Hatcher issued a two-out walk to Curtis Granderson, Mattingly went to his closer, Kenley Jansen, to get the final four outs. The Dodgers trail the Mets 2-1 in the series. He beat Kershaw and the Dodgers in Game 1 at Los Angeles, striking out 13 to match Tom Seaver’s club record.
For the first nine seasons of Zack Greinke’s major-league career, he operated under the unending belief that the key to pitching was keeping the opposition off balance, mixing up the ordering of his pitches and capitalizing on the element of surprise.
With Greinke and deGrom squaring off again, Kershaw says the series is “dead-even”.
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Now their other one gets a chance to extend the playoffs in a winner-take-all Game 5. “Had we got the lead and we felt we needed a bridge, we were going to use him”.
