New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom beat Clayton Kershaw at his own game.
DeGrom tied a Mets postseason record with 13 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings in defeating Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1.
Kershaw had three games with at least 13 strikeouts and no runs allowed in 2015, tied with Max Scherzer and Chris Sale for the major-league lead.
Kershaw was no slouch Friday, striking out 11 in 6 2/3 innings pitched. But this marked the first time in Kershaw's career (regular season or postseason) that he struck out at least 10 in a game and the opposing pitcher struck out more than him.
This was the first game in postseason history in which each starter had at least 11 strikeouts. But the story of the game was deGrom.
How did he do it?
DeGrom had a couple of rough starts in August and September, but he returned to form at the very end of the season. He has given up one run and struck out 29 in his last 17 innings.
DeGrom won with a fastball that averaged 96.6 mph, his best average fastball velocity this season. His fastball averaged 94.9 mph in the regular season. He threw 73 of his 75 fastballs faster than that Friday.
All 13 of his strikeouts were swing-and-misses. He recorded 24 swings-and-misses for the game. The last pitcher with more in a postseason game was Tim Lincecum, who had 31 against the Braves in 2010.
DeGrom lived at the top of the strike zone. He threw 54 percent of his pitches in the upper half of the strike zone, his third-highest rate this season.
The history
DeGrom became the fifth pitcher to record at least 13 strikeouts and give up no runs in his postseason debut. The other four are Joe Coleman (1972 Tigers), Mike Boddicker (1983 Orioles), Mike Scott (1986 Astros) and Lincecum (2010 Giants).
