LOS ANGELES -- Jacob deGrom struck out 13 over 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 night for a 1-0 lead in their NL Division Series.
DeGrom (1-0) limited the Dodgers to five hits and one walk. The right-hander's strikeouts tied the franchise playoff record set by Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1973 NL Championship Series.
Kershaw (0-1) 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 6 2-3 innings, struck out 11 and walked four.
Runs will likely again be at a premium when the Dodgers try to even the series Saturday night in Game 2. They start major league ERA leader Zack Greinke against Noah Syndergaard (see full recap).
Rangers top Blue Jays in 14 innings
TORONTO -- Backup infielder Hanser Alberto singled home the go-ahead run in the 14th inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 Friday for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series.
The underdog Rangers will try to sweep the Blue Jays in Game 3 Sunday in Texas. Colby Lewis will start for Texas 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.
MLB
Texas shut out the highest-scoring team in the majors after the fifth inning. The victory made road teams 5-0 in the postseason so far.
Keone Kela (1-0) worked one inning for the win, staying calm after a dust-up with Toronto slugger Josh Donaldson. Ross Ohlendorf, with an old-school, double-armed windup, finished for a first save. LaTroy Hawkins (0-1) took the loss (see full recap).
Lackey, Cardinals dominate Cubs
ST. LOUIS -- John Lackey outpitched old teammate Jon Lester, allowing two hits into the eighth inning, and rookies Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty each homered late as the St. Louis Cardinals cooled off the Chicago Cubs with a 4-0 victory Friday night in the opener of their NL Division Series.
In front of a standing room only crowd of 47,830 -- the second-largest at 10-year-old Busch Stadium -- thousands of Cubs faithful mixed into the red throng for the first postseason game between the two long-time rivals.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Saturday. The Cardinals turn to lefty Jaime Garcia (10-6), who made 20 starts coming off risky thoracic surgery. Kyle Hendricks (8-7) makes his postseason debut for the NL wild-card winners.
Matt Holliday had an RBI single in the first, giving St. Louis a lead after just three at-bats. Pinch-hitting, Pham homered off Lester and Piscotty had a two-run shot off Pedro Strop in the eighth (see full recap).
Royals rally past Astros to even series
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- 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 Houston Astros 5-4 on Friday, evening their AL Division Series at a game apiece.
Kansas City took the lead when Alcides Escobar tripled off Will Harris (0-1) to open the seventh and Zobrist followed with his single through the left side.
Kelvin Herrera (1-0) 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. Pinch-runner Carlos Gomez was initially ruled safe when he made a dive back into first base, but the call was overturned upon review. Davis got Jose Altuve to ground out to end it.
Game 3 is Sunday at Houston. Astros ace Dallas Keuchel, who was 15-0 at home this season, starts against Edinson Volquez (see full recap).