Remembering Mets History (2015) NLCS Game #1: The Dark Knight Shines as Murph, Travis & the Grandy Man Provide the Offense
At the start of the 2015 season, The Mets & Cubs were both looked at as the two young teams that were possibly a year away from a pennant. The Mets had the young pitching talents & the Cubs had the young hitters. But both teams got to the NLCS being the two best teams standing in the National League.
The Cubs had won 97 games (97-65) winning a wild card spot finishing third in a good NL Central behind the Cardinals & Pirates. Chicago took care of the Pirates in the Wild Card Game then beat St. Louis three games to one in the NLDS. The Mets had defeated the Dodgers in a five game NLDS.
A crowd of 44,287 came out to a chilly 45-degree night at Citi Field in Queens, New York. Mets legend Keith Hernandez threw out the ceremonial first pitch & actress/singer Kristen Chenoweth sang the National Anthem. Then it was on to the start of the Mets eighth NLCS series in team history. The first NLCS home game since 2000.
Harvey was the winning pitcher in the NLDS Game #3 giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits to the Dodgers at Citi Field.
Murph HRs in 3 Straight Post Season Games: In the bottom of the 1st, once again it was that man- Daniel Murphy, blasting a solo HR off Jon Lester.
In the top of the 5th
, Harvey hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch. Then Starlin Castro hit a long fly ball over Juan Lagares' head for an RBI double scoring Rizzo to tie the game.
But then "the Grandy Man" Curtis Granderson lined a single to centerfield, scoring Juan Lagares with one of his two runs scored on the night as the Mets took a 2-1 lead.
Curtis Granderson "the Grandy Man" came through once again hitting a sac fly to left field scoring Lagares giving the Mets a 4-1 lead.
Grandy-Man Trivia: Granderson was an incredible 89%, at bringing home a runner from third base with less than two outs. He now had seven hits & seven RBIs in the 2015 post season thru six games.
In the top of the 8th, Harvey recorded the first two outs, then served up a solo HR to Kyle Schwarber. Terry Collins came to remove Harvey & he exited to a standing ovation from the Citi Field crowd.
At bat, Harvey was 0-2 with a successful sacrifice bunt.
In the 8th, Jeurys Familia got the last two outs of the inning. In the top of the 9th, he gave up a two out base hit to Miguel Montero. It was the first hit Familia had allowed
In the top of the 9th, Familia gave up a two out single to Miguel Montero, it was the first hit he allowed in the post season after four appearances the NLDS in 5.1 innings.
The Mets won Game #1 by the score of 4-2, taking a one game series lead.
In Game #1 the Mets Terry Collins sent "the Dark Knight" Matt Harvey to the mound (13-8/ 2.71 ERA / 188 Ks) in the biggest game of his young career.
Harvey was the winning pitcher in the NLDS Game #3 giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits to the Dodgers at Citi Field. The visiting Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon sent veteran Jon Lester (11-12 / 3.34 ERA / 207 Ks) to the mound. Lester was the NLDS Game #1 losing pitcher giving up three runs on five hits in 7.1 innings at St. Louis.
The Two managers had a great history together, back in 1997 when Terry Collins was skipper of the Anaheim Angels, he gave Joe Maddon one of his first coaching jobs. The two formed a friendship that has continued & Maddon considered Collins a mentor.
Murph Trivia: Murph became the first Mets hitter, since Donn Clendenon in the 1969 World Series, to hit HRs in three straight post season games.
In the top of the 1st inning, Matt Harvey began by striking out Dexter Fowler & Kyle Schwarber. Harvey would retire the first 12 batters he facesd, collecting six strike outs thru the first four innings.
In the top of the 5th
, Harvey hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch. Then Starlin Castro hit a long fly ball over Juan Lagares' head for an RBI double scoring Rizzo to tie the game.With one out, Javier Baez singled to left field, Starlin Castro tested Yoenis Cespedes' arm trying to score. Cespedes thew him out at home plate as Travis d'Arnaud made the tag. The score remained 1-1.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Mets came right back, with one out Wilmer Flores & Juan Lagares both singled. Matt Harvey sacrifice bunt attempt got Wilmer Flores out at third base.
But then "the Grandy Man" Curtis Granderson lined a single to centerfield, scoring Juan Lagares with one of his two runs scored on the night as the Mets took a 2-1 lead.In the top of the 6th, Matt Harvey took a Kyle Schwarber line drive off his shoulder, picked it up & threw him out at first base.
In the bottom of the 6th, with Jon Lester still on the mound, Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud launched a long HR to dead centerfield bouncing off the HR Apple. It was right on cue the Apple rose & Citi Faithful roared with the Mets up 3-1.
In the bottom of the 6th, with Jon Lester still on the mound, Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud launched a long HR to dead centerfield bouncing off the HR Apple. It was right on cue the Apple rose & Citi Faithful roared with the Mets up 3-1.
Travis d'Arnaud Trivia: For Travis it was his second HR & fifth RBI of the post season, as he had hit a two run HR off the Dodgers Brett Anderson in NLDS Game #3.
In the bottom of the 7th, with Lester still pitching Juan Lagares led off with a base hit to left field. He advanced o Matt Harvey's sacrifice.
Juan Lagares, then stole third base. It was the Mets second stolen base of the night
Trivia: In the 2015 regular season, the Mets 51 stolen bases were the least number of steals in the NL.
Curtis Granderson "the Grandy Man" came through once again hitting a sac fly to left field scoring Lagares giving the Mets a 4-1 lead.
In the top of the 8th, Harvey recorded the first two outs, then served up a solo HR to Kyle Schwarber. Terry Collins came to remove Harvey & he exited to a standing ovation from the Citi Field crowd.
The Dark Knight Shines in the Spotlight: Tonight, Matt Harvey proved he was a big game pitcher everyone thought he was. Tonight, he cleared up any doubt or any animosity any Mets fan had against him after the whole 180 inning season pitch limit fiasco stirred by his agent earlier in the season. Matt Harvey stepped up in the national spotlight & gave a big-time post-season performance.
It was his longest outing since August 11th of that season. Tonight he pitched 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. walking two & striking out nine.
At bat, Harvey was 0-2 with a successful sacrifice bunt. Matt Harvey Trivia: Matt Harvey earned the victory to go 2-0 in the 2015 post season. Harvey was now 23-1 in his career when the Mets scored four runs or more for him.
In the 8th, Jeurys Familia got the last two outs of the inning. In the top of the 9th, he gave up a two out base hit to Miguel Montero. It was the first hit Familia had allowed
The final out of the game came on a sparkling play at second base by Daniel Murphy on Tommy La Stella's ground ball. Familia completed the four save out, as New York took Game #1.
In the top of the 9th, Familia gave up a two out single to Miguel Montero, it was the first hit he allowed in the post season after four appearances the NLDS in 5.1 innings.
The Mets won Game #1 by the score of 4-2, taking a one game series lead.
