Written by Ian Casselberry at Bloguin
Thursday’s Game 5 of the NLDS could have been Daniel Murphy’s final game in a Mets uniform. But he made sure his career with the team will last for at least one more postseason series.
The Mets second baseman batted 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, leading New York to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a NLCS match-up with the Chicago Cubs. Though Murphy’s home run off Zack Greinke in the sixth inning broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Mets their final lead, his heads-up baserunning arguably put the team in position to win.
In the fourth inning, with the Dodgers defense playing a shift on Lucas Duda that placed third baseman Justin Turner in short right field, Murphy took advantage of the fact that no one was covering third base when Duda drew a walk. Two pitches later, Travis d’Arnaud hit a fly ball into right field foul territory that was deep enough to score Murphy on a sacrifice fly.
(Should right fielder Andre Ethier have let the ball drop and risk keeping d’Arnaud another pitch to hit? Well, there’s an interesting argument.)
New York Mets fans are not always enamored with manager Terry Collins. But a couple of gutsy decisions involving his pitching staff worked out far better it appeared they would. Maybe he was lucky, but right now, the Mets skipper is looking pretty smart.
To continue reading this article, click here.
