New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy continued his remarkable run toward free agency by running roughshod through the National League playoffs. He hit yet another home run on Sunday night in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Cubs, his fourth consecutive game with a home run.
Daniel Murphy joins select company with postseason home run streak
Murphy has homered in four straight games.
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Murphy joined select company with the four straight games with a home run. He's the first in Mets' history to accomplish the feat, and the only player with a longer streak in October was Carlos Beltran, who homered in five straight playoff games for the 2004 Astros.
The only others in MLB history with a four-game postseason home run streak are Lou Gehrig, Reggie Jackson, Jeffrey "One Flap Down" Leonard, Juan Gonzalez, Jim Thome and Evan Longoria.
Murphy, a seven-year veteran, has homered in consecutive games just once during the regular season in his career, and that was in 2009.
What makes Murphy's streak even more remarkable is the list of pitchers he has victimized. The streak began in the NLDS against the Dodgers, with a home run against Clayton Kershaw in Game 4, then another against Zack Greinke in Game 5. Against the Cubs, he homered against Jon Lester in Game 1, then Jake Arrieta in Game 2.
Arrieta, Greinke and Kershaw will finish in the top three in National League Cy Young Award voting this season, and Lester is in the first year of a six-year, $155 million contract with Chicago. These are no slouches. In fact, among all qualified pitchers in baseball in 2015, those four were at the top in home runs allowed per nine innings:
Murphy on the season hit a respectable .281/.322/.449 with 14 home runs and 38 doubles in 130 games. But in the postseason, he’s up to five home runs in seven games — and likely a lucrative contract this winter.
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