Mets solve Kershaw for 1- 0 lead
Jacob de Grom struck out 13 in seven scoreless innings in his postseason debut and Daniel Murphy homered off a star- crossed Clayton Kershaw to help the New York Mets defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3- 1 on Friday for a 1- 0 lead in their NL Division Series.
DeGrom limited the Dodgers to five hits and one walk. The righthander’s strikeouts tied the franchise playoff record set by Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1973 NL Championship Series.
Kershaw endured his fifth straight postseason loss after giving up the seventh playoff homer of his career. Last season’s NL MVP and Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs and four hits in 6⅔ innings, struck out 11 and walked four.
Rangers go up 2- 0
Backup infielder Hanser Alberto singled home the go- ahead run in the 14th inning off LaTroy Hawkins and the visiting Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6- 4 for a 2- 0 lead in their AL Division Series.
The Rangers will try to sweep the Blue Jays in Game 3 on Sunday in Texas. Colby Lewis will start for the Rangers against Marco Estrada.
Alberto, only in the lineup because star third baseman Adrian Beltre was out with a strained back, made an error that led to Toronto’s first run. He delivered an RBI single with two outs in the 14th, and Delino DeShields followed with an infield hit for another run.
Texas shut out the highestscoring team in the majors after the fifth inning.
“This is an uphill battle, but it’s been done before,” Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said.
San Francisco was the last team to do it, coming back to beat Cincinnati three straight times after losing at home in the first two games of the 2012 NLDS.
Blue Jays left- handed reliever Brett Cecil tore his left calf muscle while being involved in a rundown in the eighth inning and is likely done for the postseason.
Royals even series
Ben Zobrist hit a go- ahead single in the seventh inning, reliever Wade Davis got replay help for a key pickoff in the ninth and the Kansas City Royals rallied from a three- run hole to beat the visiting Houston Astros 5- 4, evening their series at a game apiece.
Kansas City took the lead when Alcides Escobar tripled off Will Harris to open the seventh, and Zobrist followed with his single through the left side.
Kelvin Herrera and Ryan Madson each tossed a scoreless inning of relief for the Royals, and Davis came on to close it.
Davis walked Preston Tucker with one out, and speedy Carlos Gomez came in as a pinch runner. Davis snapped a throw to Hosmer at first, and he neatly snagged it on one hop as Gomez made a dive back to the bag. Gomez was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned upon review.
Mariners ax McClendon
The Seattle Mariners fired manager Lloyd McClendon after two seasons as new general manager Jerry Dipoto looks to bring in his own field boss. Dipoto was hired during the final week of the season to replace Jack Zduriencik. The Mariners finished 76- 86.