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Schwei's Mets Notes: Murphy & Co. Rewriting Club Playoff Record Book

By John Schweibacher
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The Mets will head to Wrigley Field this week for (possibly) the next three games of the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs.

Their incredible postseason run continued Sunday night with a 4-1 win in Game 2 that gave them a commanding series lead. The main reason why the Mets are where they are right now has been the play of second baseman Daniel Murphy, who hit his fifth homer of the postseason in the victory.

Web Extra: Guide To Citi Field | Best Eats At Citi Field | Best Bars In NYC To Watch Mets In NLCS

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Murphy is the fifth player to hit at least five home runs in his first seven postseason games. The others were Ken Griffey Jr. (6 HRs), Juan Gonzalez (5), Carlos Beltran (6), and Melvin Upton Jr. (5).

Noah Syndergaard earned the victory Sunday after allowing just one run on three hits, with nine strikeouts, over 5 2/3 innings. Elias notes that he became the second-youngest Mets starting pitcher to win a postseason game:

· Gary Gentry -- 1969 (23 years, 8 days)
· Noah Syndergaard -- 2015 (23 years, 50 days)
· Jon Matlack -- 1973 (23 years, 8 months)
· Tom Seaver -- 1969 (24 years 10 months)
· Oliver Perez -- 2006 (25 years, 2 months)

The Mets won Game 1 of the series, 4-2, on Saturday night at Citi Field. Matt Harvey threw 97 pitches and struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings for the win. Harvey and Jacob deGrom are both 2-0 in the postseason. Prior to this season, no other pitcher in club history had won his first two career postseason starts. Tom Glavine, who had made 32 career postseason starts for the Braves, did win his first two playoff starts for the Mets in 2006.

At the time, Murphy's first-inning home run off Jon Lester tied the club record for postseason home runs. He then broke the record on Sunday.

· Daniel Murphy -- 2015 -- 5
· Carlos Delgado -- 2006 -- 4
· Mike Piazza -- 2000 -- 4
· Rusty Staub -- 1973 -- 4

The Mets advanced to the NLCS with a five-game win over the Dodgers in the NLDS. The Mets have now won all four Division Series in which they have played, and are undefeated in all six of their best-of-5 series in club history.

Murphy's go-ahead home run off Zack Greinke in the sixth inning of Game 5 was his third of the series. Five other Mets have hit multiple homers in their six best-of-five series in club history:

· Daniel Murphy vs. LA in 2015 NLDS -- 3
· Edgardo Alfonzo vs. Arz in 1999 NLDS -- 3
· Rusty Staub vs. Cin in 1973 NLCS -- 3
· Yoenis Cespedes vs. LA in 2015 NLDS -- 2
· Tommie Agee vs. Atl in 1969 NLCS -- 2
· Ken Boswell vs. Atl in 1969 NLCS -- 2

Justin Turner, who played for the Mets from 2010 to 2013, had 10 hits in the series, the most ever by a Mets' opponent in a best-of-five series:

· Justin Turner LA 2015 NLDS -- 10
· Jeff Kent LA 2006 NLDS -- 8
· Pete Rose Cin 1973 NLCS -- 8
· Howie Kendrick LA 2015 NLDS -- 6
· Adrian Gonzalez LA 2015 NLDS -- 6
· Jeff Kent SF 2000 NLDS -- 6
· Matt Williams Arz 1999 NLDS -- 6

Curtis Granderson drove in five runs in the Mets' 13-7 win in Game 3 of the NLDS, equaling the club record for most RBIs in a postseason game:

· Curtis Granderson vs. LA, 10/12/15, NLDS Game 3 -- 5
· Carlos Delgado at Stl, 10/15/06, NLCS Game 4 -- 5
· Edgardo Alfonzo at Ariz, 10/5/99, NLDS Game 1 -- 5
· Rusty Staub vs. Oak, 10/17/73, WS Game 4 -- 5
· Carlos Delgado at Stl, 10/13/06, NLCS Game 2 -- 4
· Rusty Staub vs. Cin 10/8/73, NLCS Game 3 -- 4

Mets batters struck out 57 times against the Dodgers in the NLDS, matching the most by the club in any series in postseason history:

· 2015 NLDS vs. LA -- 57
· 1986 NLCS vs. Houston -- 57
· 1999 NLCS vs. Atlanta -- 49
· 2000 WS vs. NYY -- 48
· 1986 WS vs. Boston -- 43

Happy Recap: The Mets' 2-0 series lead over Chicago is just their second in their 10 best-of-7 series all-time in club history. The other was the 2000 NLCS vs. St. Louis that they won in five games.

Nine Miles of Rough Road: The Mets have lost their last seven games at Wrigley Field and are 11-28 at the "Friendly Confines" since 2003.

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