Daniel Murphy displayed rare high level baseball IQ in the deciding playoff game against the Dodgers.
With a huge infield shift on, Murphy was on first base with one out. The batter walked, and Murphy started to jog to second, then turned on the gas as he got to the bag since no one was covering third base!
He stole third base from first on an out!
It is such a mindboggling play that rarely happens.
Murphy recognized the situation, and knew the rule that the ball was still live to rush to third base. The Dodgers were caught flat footed on a defensive play. One would think either the shortstop or the pitcher should have moved toward third base to stop Murphy from advancing to third.
But the runner's heads' up play put him on third base which was the deciding play of the game. The next batter hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field so Murphy scored to tie the game.
Later, Murphy hit the game winning home run.
There is more pressure on players in the post season because there is more at stake, more viewers, and bigger plays because of the stage. Murphy met all those pressures and performed well above average, which gave his team the victory.
