Mets playoffs: Daniel Murphy brings mayhem and magic to Game 5 win over Dodgers

Facing arguably the two best pitchers in baseball—Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw—the Mets' lineup combined to hit five solo home runs in four games. Daniel Murphy hit three of them.

If you predicted that happening, raise your hand. Now put your hands down, liar!

For the most part, the Mets' lineup was quiet during the series, especially in Game 5. But the Mets' secret weapon, Daniel Murphy, had a role in each of the Mets' runs scored. In the first inning, after Curtis Granderson singled on a bouncer in the infield, and Murphy followed by lining a double to the gap in left field, giving the Mets an early 1-0 lead.

Then, in a play that will be talked about for years to come, Murphy stole third base from first after a Lucas Duda walk. It was a huge play—Travis d'Arnaud scored Murphy with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

In the sixth inning, Murphy recorded his third—and biggest—hit of the game, pulling a home run over the right field fence off Greinke.

"I walked into second and nobody saw me," Murphy said about the play. "Once I took off, [I thought], 'I hope nobody sees me.'"

"You know what Murphy did on the field tonight," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters after the win. "He was basically the offense tonight."

"He's hot right now," manager Terry Collins said, calling Murphy "a gamer."

"He's about as locked in as I've ever seen him," David Wright, one of Murphy's longest-tenured teammates said after the win. "To be able to have that kind of series shows you how well he's seeing the ball and how good he can be when he's locked in."

Think about this: Daniel Murphy came up in 2008, and was on the Mets' roster when the second "collapse" happened. His Mets tenure so far has been two winning seasons bookending six losing ones. After all the tribulations and setbacks—the leg injuries, the outfield experiment, the baserunning blunders, and the rise of the pejorative phrase "Murph'd"—this series against the Dodgers was the culmination of a magical season.

Penciled in to play second base at the beginning of the year, Murphy was asked to move to third after David Wright was injured. When Wright came back, Duda went down, and Murphy slid to first base where he played solid defense (not to mention some highlights of his own).

Bravo, Mr. Murphy. Keep it up.