FINAL SCORE: Mets 3 - Dodgers 2
The Mets are moving on!
Daniel Murphy put his team on his back and New York used a strong effort from its bullpen to edge out Zack Greinke and the Dodgers, 3-2, in Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Thursday night.
The Mets wasted little time in taking the early lead in their first at-bats against Greinke. Instant replay confirmed that Curtis Granderson beat out an infield single to lead off the game before Daniel Murphy followed with a shot to the gap in left that resulted in a triple, scoring Granderson from first.
Greinke settled down after that, however, and had six strikeouts through three innings.
The Dodgers got to Jacob deGrom early to the tune of two runs to regain the lead. After singles from Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner picked up an RBI single before Andre Ethier followed with a bloop single to score Gonzalez.
It would be the last time the Dodgers would cross the plate however, despite the struggles that Jacob deGrom seemed to face in each of his six innings pitched. The righty labored, but was able to work out of every jam he faced. Los Angeles ended the game just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
DeGrom finished the game with seven strikeouts while allowing six hits and walking three.
In the fourth, Murphy singled to start the inning and moved to second on a walk. But instead of stopping, Murphy deked the Dodgers and took off for an unoccupied third base because of a defensive shift to Lucas Duda. With one out, Travis d'Arnaud hit a sacrifice fly to tie things up.
Murphy struck again in the sixth and belted a solo home run into the right field seats off Greinke, who also struck out seven, to break the tie and put the Mets ahead, 3-2. It would prove to be just enough.
After warming up in the bullpen several times throughout the game, starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard finally entered the game in relief and pitched a perfect seventh. Terry Collins then decided to go to closer Jeurys Familia for his first-career six out save, and he didn't disappoint.
The Mets move on to face Jon Lester and the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS on Saturday. Matt Harvey is slated to start for New York.
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