LOS ANGELES — These were “dodgers” — lower-case “d” in honor of their master Friday night.
Jacob deGrom was better than Clayton Kershaw and maybe better than any pitcher in Mets history in a postseason game.
The Dodgers couldn’t touch the 27-year-old righty, allowing the Mets to embrace the fact they didn’t earn home-field advantage for this series.
All deGrom did was fire seven shutout innings and tie a postseason franchise record with 13 strikeouts, leading the Mets’ 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the NLDS before 54,428 at Dodger Stadium.
In a 121-pitch masterpiece, deGrom tied the Mets’ single-game postseason strikeout record set by Tom Seaver, who fanned 13 in Game 1 of the 1973 NLCS in Cincinnati.