NEW YORK -- New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy already had been briefed that characters with his surname have haunted the Chicago Cubs when he was asked about it late Saturday.
“Is that the name of the goat?” Murphy lightheartedly asked after the Mets beat the Cubs, 4-2, in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. “Somebody told me that today. What do I make of that? A unique coincidence.”
Murphy -- the ballplayer, not the goat evicted from Wrigley Field in 1945 that supposedly spawned the “Curse of the Billy Goat” -- opened the scoring in Game 1 of the NLCS with a first-inning solo home run against Jon Lester.
Murphy has now homered in three consecutive postseason games, matching Donn Clendenon’s 1969 franchise record.
Murphy also has matched a franchise single-postseason record with four home runs, joining Carlos Delgado (2006), Mike Piazza (2000) and Rusty Staub (1973). Murphy has taken only six games to get to that total. Those other sluggers all played double-digit games in the postseasons in which they produced four homers.
Three of Murphy’s homers now have come against left-handed pitching. Aside from the shot against Lester on Saturday night, Murphy also went deep twice in the division series against Clayton Kershaw. Of course, his homer against a right-hander was the decisive shot in Game 5 of the division series against Zack Greinke, which allowed the Mets to advance.
Murphy had only one homer in 126 at-bats against left-handed pitching during the regular season. He credited a conversation with hitting coach Kevin Long for helping with his surge.
“We really started hunting pitches in the middle of the plate in,” Murphy said. “So that was the biggest thing that we did. I started getting a little more aggressive. We kind of talked and found out what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses. And he really helped me to play as much as I could to one of my biggest strengths, I think, which is I don't swing and miss a lot. So if I can get a good pitch to hit, there is a good chance I should be able to hit it hard.”
While Murphy has been known for his bat throughout his career, the usually suspect aspects of his game are helping the Mets out a lot this postseason, too. He had a heady play in Game 5 of the NLDS to go from first to third on a walk to Lucas Duda with the Dodgers overshifting, which set the table for a sacrifice fly by Travis d'Arnaud. And on Saturday night, Murphy -- hardly known for his fielding -- snared a hard-hit grounder to his left off the bat of Tommy La Stella and threw to first base to close out the 4-2 win.
“I don't know if you saw, but I freaked out when I caught it, and then you've got to make the throw. Good thing [first baseman] Lucas is a fine target to throw to,” Murphy said. “To tell you the truth, Tommy La Stella, he's from Atlanta, so we have an idea. We played against him last year all season. He's a really good hitter, stays on the ball well. [Jeurys] Familia right there went to the splitter, so I think I gave him about a half-step step to the pull side of the 3-4 hole, and it ended up being just enough to get there.”