Mets crumble in the clutch in Game 1 of the World Series
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When the stakes are as high as they are in the World Series, one bad pitch or one misstep in the field can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing.
Both the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets had chances to win Game 1, but a couple of Mets miscues certainly loomed large as the Royals ultimately pulled out a 5-4 victory in 14 innings.
Up by a run, Mets closer Jeurys Familia, who hadn’t allowed a run in 9 2/3 playoff innings, couldn’t slam the door on the Royals in the ninth. Then in the 14th, David Wright’s error turned into the eventual winning run.
“We’re frustrated,” said Mets manager Terry Collins afterward. “We didn’t have a lot of opportunities, but we had a few shots. We got the lead and we lost it, we came back and got the lead again.”
With one out in the ninth, Familia elevated a fastball a little too much to Kansas City’s Alex Gordon, who deposited it 428 feet over the wall in dead center field.
“I want to go away, down,” Familia said. “He just made the swing.”
Gordon’s blast tied the game and sent it to extra innings, energizing the sellout crowd of 40,320 in the process.
“One thing, he doesn’t give up home runs,” Collins said. “So we were all shocked by it. We liked where we were at.”
During the regular season, Familia converted 43 of 48 save chances. In the playoffs, he was a perfect 5-for-5.
But even though Gordon had never hit against Familia before, he was ready for the 97 mph heater.
“He tried to quick pitch me and left the ball right there to hit,” Gordon said. “With a guy like that you can’t miss pitches that he gives you to hit. And that’s what happened.”
Gordon said he knew to look for the quick pitch because he saw Familia do it to the hitter before him, Salvador Perez.
“They’re trying to get you out any way that they can,” he said. “We’ve got a gut that does it too, with (Game 2 starter Johnny) Cueto. It works both ways, and you’ve just got to be ready for it.”
"It’s one of those situations where you’ve just got to tip your cap,” said Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud. “Familia made his pitch, but the guy hit it."
The game remained tied until the 14th inning, when the Royals’ winning rally began with a ball that Wright couldn’t quite handle.
“I just got an in-between hop. The ball kinda came up on me and I just couldn’t get a glove on it. It hit my wrist and then got me in the midsection,” Wright said.
As Wright picked the ball up, Royals leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar sped down the line to first.
“I know he can run so I tried to rush the throw a little bit,” Wright said. “It’s a play that you want to make for sure.”
Escobar ended up scoring the winning run on Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly.
“We were one hit away or one play away from winning that game,” Wright said. “It seemed like every time we scored, they had an answer for us.”
In the end, the Mets will need to have an answer for the Royals.
“That’s the beautiful thing about the game in general,” Wright said. “We can have a tough loss like this today and bounce back tomorrow and get the W.”
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