Newsroom GuidelinesNews TipsContact UsReport an Error Before Baez took over, the only difference between the two teams was a fourth-inning home run by Daniel Murphy that landed on the grass of the Mets’ bullpen. “My first at-bat he chewed me up and spit me out,” Murphy said of Kershaw. “That’s kind of what it looked like. I got a lot of sliders that I didn’t see well and he put me away with them fairly easy. The next at-bat I was able to get my foot down just a little earlier, got a 2-0 heater in the middle of the plate, and I was fortunate to put a good swing on it.”Lucas Duda, Ruben Tejada and Curtis Granderson all drew walks in the fateful seventh inning, interspersed between a pair of ground-ball outs. When A.J. Ellis caught Kershaw’s 113th and final pitch a couple inches outside to Granderson, Kershaw could only look to the heavens and droop his shoulders.It was Baez who relieved Kershaw last October, too, after Matt Adams hit a three-run home run on Kershaw’s final pitch in St. Louis. Whether he faced one batter too many or one batter too few, Kershaw’s final inning ensured he would be dogged by the same questions about not rising to the occasion of the postseason.But he could not, and did not, argue with Mattingly when he was removed from this game.“I put myself in that spot,” Kershaw said. “Not much room for arguing after you put yourself in that situation.”More than Kershaw, the Dodgers’ offense failed to rise to the occasion Friday. DeGrom’s 98-mph fastball and 91-mph slider were too much for the Dodgers’ lineup. Their big hits against the shaggy-haired right-hander — a double by Justin Turner off left fielder Michael Cuddyer’s glove and a double by Corey Seager, also off Cuddyer’s glove — stood in isolation.The Dodgers’ only run came in the eighth inning, when Adrian Gonzalez punched an opposite-field single off right-hander Tyler Clippard to score Howie Kendrick. They finished 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.“We didn’t do much when we had guys out there,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve got to do a better job (Saturday) and put the ball in play.”DeGrom allowed five hits and walked one batter in addition to his 13 strikeouts. Closer Jeurys Familia relieved Clippard in the eighth inning and recorded a four-out save, retiring Joc Pederson on a weak ground ball back to the mound to end the game himself.Zack Greinke will start opposite the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard in Game 2, a game scheduled to begin at 6:07 p.m. Saturday.“Not that (Game 2) is a must-win, but it’s a game that we definitely need to compete in, and play well in, and do everything we can to get to New York with a split,” Ellis said. The outcome of the game, and the Dodgers’ 1-0 deficit in the series, are consistent with Kershaw’s October trajectory. The ace is winless in his last five October starts. He’s allowed at least three runs in his last four.But this game was its own animal — the very thing Mets manager Terry Collins compared Kershaw to before the series began. And much like the last time he pitched in the playoffs (a Game 4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in last year’s NL Division Series), Kershaw appeared to have tamed the October beast for six innings.So did Mets starter Jacob deGrom, who did not allow a run in seven innings in his first playoff start.“I got out-pitched,” Kershaw said. “That’s basically the moral of the story. Jacob pitched an amazing game. We battled, got even in some counts, got his pitch count up there, but he out-pitched me plain and simple.”DeGrom (13 strikeouts) and Kershaw (11) became the first postseason opponents to strike out 11 batters in the same game. The Mets collected only four hits and, until the seventh inning, only one walk — a masterful 12-pitch at-bat by Wright in the first — against Kershaw. While the announced crowd of 54,428 at Dodger Stadium shifted in its seats Friday night, Clayton Kershaw sat and watched. He had walked three batters to load the bases for the Mets’ David Wright in the seventh inning, putting Don Mattingly in a precarious position that the Dodgers’ manager has been in before.This time, Mattingly pulled Kershaw in favor of right-handed reliever Pedro Baez. Kershaw calmly took a seat on the bench. He leaned his elbow on his leg and his cheek in his hand. He shifted his arms as Baez fell behind 2-0, then 3-1, then served up a 99 mph fastball down the middle of the plate.Wright smoked a line drive back up the middle of the diamond for a two-run single, the decisive hit in the Mets’ 3-1 win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Friday.• PHOTOS: Mets take Game 1 advantage read more