Matt Harvey pitched well into the eighth and made a few fielding gems as the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 Saturday in game one of the NL Championship Series.
Second baseman Daniel Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud belted solo home runs and Murphy capped off another brilliant performance with a diving snag on a hot grounder before throwing to first for the final out of the contest.
“I found it early and kept with it. I was able to mix pitches up,” Harvey said.
“I wanted to go out there and get strikes, mix things up and not get into a routine. And the guys made all the plays behind me.”
Harvey, who faced the Cubs just once in 2015 and went seven scoreless innings, struck out nine, allowed four hits and walked two in 7 2/3 innings.
Murphy has now hit homers in a career-high three straight games for the Mets, who are playing in their first Major League baseball playoff semi-final series since 2006.
The winner of the series will face either the Kansas City Royals or the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series.
Game two is Sunday in New York before the series shifts to Chicago on Tuesday for game three. Mets rookie right-hander Noah Syndergaard will take the mound against Cubs ace right-hander Jake Arrieta on Sunday.
Outfielder Curtis Granderson’s RBI single in the fifth inning gave the Mets the lead for good in front of a crowd of 44,000 at Citi Field stadium.
Harvey has been the subject of an innings limit debate for weeks as he completes his first season following elbow surgery. On Saturday, he recorded an out beyond the seventh inning for the first time since August 11 and only the sixth time in 31 starts.
The New York crowd serenaded him with chants of “HAR-VEY” all night long. He exited to a standing ovation after giving up a solo homer to Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber.
– Hit in the head –
Harvey also helped his own cause in the sixth by getting the first two outs of the inning on fielding plays.
He was hit by line drive from Dexter Fowler but managed to scoop up the ball and still make the throw to first to get the out. He also threw out Schwarber as the Cubs’ batters went down without much of a fight in the inning.
“It squared me up pretty good. I had no idea where the ball went,” Harvey said of the hit by Fowler.
“It actually hit me in the back of the head and dropped in front of the mound. Fortunately I saw it and made a good throw and got him out.”
Right-hander Jeurys Familia allowed a walk and a hit in recording the final four outs.
Cubs left-hander Jon Lester allowed four runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out five over 6 2/3 innings.
There were no hiccups from the Mets on Saturday as Murphy whipped the sellout crowd into a frenzy with a two-out, first-inning homer into the second deck in right field.
Murphy has homered in three straight games, something he has never achieved during the regular season.
“This guy, he likes to be on the big stage,” Mets manager Terry Collins said of Murphy. “On this team, you can get overshadowed a little bit.”