The New York Mets grinded out a massive 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, notching the club's first playoff win since 2006 and seizing home-field advantage.
Friday's nightcap featured a classic pitchers' duel between Clayton Kershaw and Jacob deGrom, and last year's NL Rookie of the Year got the best of the reigning MVP and Cy Young winner. The Mets ace struck out 13 in a seemingly effortless seven innings of scoreless work, earning the win thanks to Daniel Murphy's fourth-inning home run.
Veteran David Wright later padded the Mets' lead on a two-out, bases-loaded single in the seventh that pushed the score to 3-0, giving deGrom even more cushion to throw a magnificent game, as ESPN Stats & Info noted:
The dominant outing from deGrom wasn't the only stellar pitching going on, as Kershaw racked up 11 strikeouts of his own and allowed four hits in 6.2 innings. The combined strikeouts between the two starters nearly set an MLB record, as Fox Sports noted:
That being said, the result only continues a frustrating trend of playoff shortcomings for Kershaw. Not only did he see his postseason record worsen, but he lost to the Mets for the first time ever, as ESPN's Darren Rovell noted:
Kershaw and the Dodgers head into Game 2 at Dodger Stadium, where fellow ace Zack Greinke will be on the hill looking to bail out his teammate. But that will have to come against another one of the Mets' promising young pitchers in Noah Syndergaard.
With both teams' front-line aces up Friday, though, neither offense could muster up much momentum in the early going.
Kershaw started out throwing a strikeout party, and deGrom simply chose to follow suit. The Dodgers ace tallied six strikeouts in his first three frames, while deGrom kept an even better pace with seven by the end of the third inning.
As Baseball Tonight noted, the strikeout meter got plenty of action early on:
With two opportunistic lineups, it seemed like only a matter of time until one of the pitchers would slip up enough to allow a game-changing hit. One would assume the 27-year-old second-year player—not the 27-year-old superstar—would eventually lose focus.
Instead, Kershaw laid one out for Daniel Murphy in the top of the fourth and the Mets second baseman jacked it out of the park. It might pain Mets fans to hear who the last player to homer in the postseason was, as Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal noted:
Even amid a bevy of early strikeouts, there was reason to believe a fateful swing from a Mets bat was in the cards. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times thought so after seeing Kershaw miss his spots numerous times:
Beyond that one swing, Kershaw looked like he'd do enough to give the Dodgers offense a chance—mainly because the Dodgers kept threatening. They got into lengthy battles with deGrom and forced him into a couple of jams that blew his pitch count up to 121.
But in the seventh, that all changed. Kershaw walked two batters, allowed a deGrom sacrifice fly to put both runners in scoring position, walked another batter to load the bases and got the hook after 6.2 innings. Pedro Baez stepped in and immediately gave up Wright's two-out, two-RBI single.
David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution couldn't believe the switch:
After deGrom got out of the seventh, the onus was on the Mets bullpen to slam the door shut. It didn't go so smoothly, as a double from Howie Kendrick followed by Adrian Gonzalez's RBI single made it a 3-1 game in the eighth.
That brought in closer Jeurys Familia, who quelled all the buzz in the ballpark with the 50th save of his career—none bigger than this one. Needless to say, his teammates were ready to celebrate, as Mike Vorkunov of the New Jersey Star-Ledger noted:
There's no doubt Friday night has been a long time coming for the Mets, who peaked at the right time during the season to carry that success over into October. Against a Dodgers team that's fresh off last season's playoff dud, it appeared a mental hangover was imminent.
The Dodgers have one more chance at home to shake that off, or a repeat of last year is one step closer to reality.
Post-Game Reaction
You couldn't tell that Friday marked the first career playoff start for deGrom, who looked like a veteran with years of postseason experience. One pitcher that's no stranger to seeing a big playoff performance is Kershaw, who tipped his hat to deGrom as Scott Miller of Bleacher Report noted:
On the heels of an instant-classic performance from deGrom, the question begs to be asked—how soon can the Mets get their star back on the mound? Considering his 121 pitches Friday, manager Terry Collins doesn't see that happening anytime soon, per Adam Rubin of ESPN:
What's Next
In a series that boasts arguably the best two pitching staffs from top to bottom in these playoffs, the pendulum could swing immediately. If it's going to be in the Dodgers' favor, they couldn't have asked for a better option to help guide them than Greinke.
L.A.'s hopes rest on Greinke's 1.66 ERA and Cy Young-caliber season as the Dodgers turn right around for a Saturday night home tilt. If he can't out-duel Syndergaard the way that deGrom out-dueled Kershaw on Friday, the Dodgers will be staring at another disparaging NLDS exit.
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