Arrieta was 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in 2 outings against the Mets this season, striking out 17 in 16 innings.
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“Something doesn’t go right and we bounce back”, said the Mets’ 66-year-old Terry Collins, managing in the postseason for the first time. “We’ve done it all year long”. Jacob deGrom allowed runners in all six of his innings but just two runs. With Murphy on first in the fourth inning, Lucas Duda walked.
“The organization, since I’ve been here, has been through a lot”, Murphy said last night. The heads-up base-running paid off, as he’d score on a Travis d’Arnaud sacrifice fly to tie the game at two.
Clayton Kershaw and Greinke managed two wins in their four playoff starts, hardly reflective of their success during the regular season. “We’re going to stay with the plan and do it. Like I said, do our best to win the game”. He scored on Murphy’s one-out double.
The Mets celebrate clinching the NLDS after defeating the Dodgers, 3-2, at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
Murphy, who had three hits, batted.
Who’s to blame? The players are adamant it’s not manager Don Mattingly. “He’s always to me been a guy that’s been a tough out, pretty much hits everybody’s fastball”.
I dredge up these miserable memories only to emphasize how big-name veteran pitchers can fall apart in a critical game when deGrom, in his second season and first postseason appearance, was able to keep his team in the game.
Rookie Noah Syndergaard pitched an inning of relief on Thursday night but you would expect him to be ready for Game 2 on Sunday. With Orel Hershiser on the mound, the game was over, and the Mets went on to lose, 6-0. He helped the Dodgers to their third straight NL West title this year, which was the first time the team achieved such a feat in franchise history. “It felt like everybody got a piece of this one”. The right-hander, who turns 32 next week, has the option of voiding the last three years of his contract – worth $71 million – and becoming a free agent.
All of that being said, the Cubs feel that they are in a good position to make a push into the World Series. “I made a decision to challenge him”.
deGrom went back out for the bottom of the sixth, a move that Mets fans weren’t very comfortable with. Now, it’s Chicago’s bats against New York’s arms in an NLCS loaded with young talent.
Murphy drew plenty of ire in March with his comments after the Mets brought in former major leaguer Billy Bean to talk to the team. The Cubs have already announced that left-hander Jon Lester will pitch Game 1. There is a strong likelihood that Grienke will get $150 million over five years, which is significantly better than the six-year, $147 million contract the Dodgers signed him to three years ago. After Turner doubled leading off the third, Ethier popped out to left.
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Ethier returned the dugout and began yelling at Mattingly while simultaneously walking away from him.
