Mets 3, Dodgers 1
LOS ANGELES -- Second baseman Daniel Murphy homered and Jacob deGrom struck out a career-high 13, sparking the New York Mets to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodger in Game 1 of their National League Division Series before a sellout crowd of 54,428 at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
DeGrom threw five-hit ball with a walk (intentional) in seven innings. His 13 strikeouts tied Tom Seaver's franchise mark, which the Hall of Famer set in Game 1 of the 1973 National League Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
DeGrom retired the final 11 batters he faced. He and Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, who struck out 11, became the first two opposing pitchers to strike out at least 10 hitters in a game.
Mets closer Jeurys Familia worked a perfect 1 1/3 innings for the save.
With the win, the Mets took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game 2 is Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
Kershaw lost his fifth straight playoff game. Kershaw (0-1), who is 1-6 in the postseason, was charged with three runs on four hits with four walks in 6 2/3 innings. Kershaw also lost to the Mets for the first time in 10 career starts.
Murphy gave the Mets an early lead, driving a 2-0 Kershaw fastball into the visitor's bullpen in right for a solo blast to open the fourth inning.
With two outs in the eighth and the bases loaded, third baseman David Wright laced a two-run single up the middle off reliever Pedro Baez to make it 3-0.
The Dodgers scored a run on first baseman Adrian Gonzalez's RBI single to left, scoring second baseman Howie Kendrick, who reached on a double, to slice the lead to two runs with two outs in the eighth. However, Familia induced third baseman Justin Turner to line out to first to limit the damage.
Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis, who went 1-for-3, had a fourth-inning single to extend his postseason hitting streak to a franchise record-tying 11 games. Ellis tied left fielder Carl Crawford's mark, set in 2014.
NOTES: At 21, SS Corey Seager is the youngest position player to start a postseason game for the Dodgers. ... The Dodgers led the National League in homers this season with 187, the most they have hit since smacking 203 in 2004. Los Angeles also led the majors in fielding percentage at .988 and committed just 75 errors. ... The Mets won each of the previous NLDS they played, including a sweep of the Dodgers in 2006. New York also defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks (1999) and the San Francisco Giants (2000). ... New York won the season series 4-3. ... Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (9-7, 3.24 ERA) will face Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke (19-3, 1.66 ERA) in Game 2 on Saturday.