Murphy Manufactures Mets Win; NY Will Host Cubs In NLCS Game 1 Saturday

Jacob deGrom battled through six tough innings, and Daniel Murphy helped produce all three of his team's runs as the Mets pulled out a 3-2 road win over the Dodgers in the series deciding Game 5 of the NL Division Series.

The Mets move on to the Championship Series for the first time since 2006 and will host the Chicago Cubs in the opener of the best-of-seven series on Saturday at Citi Field.

After Murphy's RBI triple scored Curtis Granderson in the top of the first, L.A. responded in the bottom half with a pair of runs on four hits off deGrom (2-0). From there, the 27-year-old righty pitched into-and-out-of trouble in virtually every inning, all while keeping the Dodgers off the board. He lasted six, throwing 105 pitches and ending with just the two earned runs on six hits and seven strikeouts. His last inning was his only one in which he retired the lineup 1-2-3.

The Mets were able to push across the game's tying run in the fourth with some heads-up baserunning from Murphy. Standing on first after a single, one of his three hits on the night, Murphy went first to third when Lucas Duda walked. As the Dodgers' infield, which had been a shift to the right side of the field for the pull-hitting Duda, moseyed back to their positions, Murphy rounded second an sprinted to third. It caught starter Zack Geinke off guard and he was unable to win the race to third. It was a crucial advance that allowed the Mets to produce a run when Travis d'Arnaud flied out in foul territory down the right field line.

New York then took the lead when Murphy came up again in the seventh, yanking an inside pitch from Greinke (1-1) into the stands behind the right field fence.

Noah Syndergaard worked a scoreless seventh, and Jeurys Familia retired the final six Dodgers hitters in order, notching his second save of the series.

The Cubs are slated to throw Jon Lester in Game 1 Saturday while the Mets starter is to be determined. In the regular season series, Chicago swept all seven meetings between the two teams.