Murphy on costly error: 'We lost the ballgame because of it'

For all of the success New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy had with his bat this postseason, it may be a misplay with the glove that he's remembered for most.

Clinging to a one-run lead over the Kansas City Royals with one out and runners on first and second in the eighth, Mets manager Terry Collins went to closer Jeurys Familia to try and convert the five-out save.

Familia induced a slow-rolling grounder off the bat of Eric Hosmer that rolled under Murphy's glove and allowed the Royals to score the game-tying run.

"I misplayed it," Murphy said following the 5-3 loss. "There's no excuse for it. And we lost the ballgame because of it."

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

The damage was far from done, however, as Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez both followed with RBI singles, giving the Royals a 5-3 lead by the time the inning came to an end. Kansas City closer Wade Davis converted the six-out save, putting the Royals one win away from their first World Series title in 30 years.

Despite the costly error, Murphy's teammates jumped to his defense after falling into a 3-1 series deficit in the best-of-seven series.

"That's not the reason why we lost this game," third baseman David Wright said. "That's definitely not the reason why we lost this game."

Murphy, who leads all playoff hitters with seven home runs, hadn't committed an error through his first 13 postseason games.