Sim Series: Gordon's clutch homer propels Royals to thrilling win in Game 5
How will this year's World Series play out? Using the Dynasty League Baseball online simulation, Paste BN Sports' Steve Gardner and DLB designer Mike Cieslinski will pre-play each game to provide some insight into the key matchups and strategy fans can expect to see in the Fall Classic.
Game 5: Kansas City at New York Mets
NEW YORK -- Alex Gordon hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the ninth inning to give the Kansas City Royals a thrilling 4-3 victory over the New York Mets in Game 5 of USA TODAY Sports' annual Simulated World Series.
Gordon's game-winning blast came off setup man Tyler Clippard -- who had just escaped from a first-and-third jam in the eighth in relief of Mets starter Matt Harvey, but couldn't preserve the tie in the ninth.
BOX SCORE: Royals 4, Mets 3
Royals starter Edinson Volquez held the Mets scoreless for the first five innings, as his teammates staked him to a 3-0 lead on Eric Hosmer's two-run homer in the first and Alex Rios' RBI triple in the second.
But the Mets finally broke through in the sixth. Daniel Murphy's two-run homer ended the day for Volquez as Royals manager went immediately to fireballing reliever Kelvin Herrera.
In the seventh, Travis d'Arnaud led off with a solo shot to dead center field off Herrera to tie the game.
GAME SUMMARY: Inning-by-inning recap
That set the stage for Gordon's dramatic home run, a towering 387-foot fly ball that cleared the wall in right field, just over the glove of Curtis Granderson.
Wade Davis allowed a single to d'Arnaud in the ninth, but closed out the win by striking out Juan Lagares.
The series now heads back to Kansas City with the Mets holding a 3-2 lead.
Previous results
GAME 1: Mets 5, Royals 4
GAME 2: Mets 9, Royals 1
GAME 3: Mets 8, Royals 3
GAME 4: Royals 9, Mets 0
What to watch in (the actual) Game 5
-- Except for the one mistake pitch to Murphy, Volquez was outstanding. He got the Royals through five scoreless frames before giving way to Herrera in the sixth. If he can match Harvey, the Royals will have a distinct advantage if the game gets to the bullpens.
-- The Royals continued to put the pressure on the Mets with their running game. Cain singled three times and stole three bases. Even though Harvey is a bit better than Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz at keeping runners close, Cain was still able to get good jumps.
-- Royals reliever Danny Duffy continues to be a key performer in the series, coming in to face the Mets collection of left-handed hitters. In Game 5, Duffy pitched a scoreless eighth inning as a bridge from Herrera to Davis -- getting a key double-play ball against David Wright.
Dynasty League Baseball, from the designer of Pursue the Pennant, is available in both the original Board version and the online version featuring "Series," Greatest Team bracket tournaments and continuous ownership draft leagues.
Pre-play your own 2015 World Series by signing up at DynastyLeagueBaseball.com and selecting "Series."
Special thanks to Baseball Info Solutions for their statistical analysis.