Royals have Mets in a hole
KANSAS CITY 7 NEW YORK 1 (Royals lead series 2-0)
KANSAS CITY — Following the final out, after Johnny Cueto completed his two-hitter, several hundred fans remained in Kauffman Stadium, wanting one more look at the Kansas City Royals. The next time they see Eric Hosmer and his teammates may be in a parade.
After smothering the Mets 7-1 Wednesday night with Cueto and their pesky offence, the Royals have a 2-0 World Series lead and can capture their first title since 1985 when play resumes at New York’s Citi Field this weekend.
Hosmer thought about Kansas City’s seven-game loss to the Giants in 2014.
“There’s still a lot of work yet to do,” he said. “Last year, we took a 2-1 lead in San Francisco and were feeling pretty good about ourselves.”
Kansas City wore down Jacob deGrom with persistence and prowess, then pounced. Hosmer hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in a four-run fifth inning that included 14 foul balls.
Nineteen hours after Hosmer’s sacrifice fly won a 14-inning thriller, Cueto varied his delivery with occasional quick pitches and kept the Mets off balance. Some fans wore wigs resembling Cueto’s long, dark dreadlocks — including the Royals’ mascot, Slugerrr.
The teams take today off then New York’s Citi Field hosts its first Series game Friday, when rookie Noah Syndergaard starts for the Mets and Yordano Ventura for the Royals.
Forty-one of the 51 teams to take 2-0 leads in best-of-seven World Series have gone on to win the title, including nine straight since Atlanta stumbled against the New York Yankees in 1996.
Kansas City had the best contact hitters in the major leagues this season, missing on just 19.7 per cent of swings. The Dodgers and Cubs swung and missed 58 times in deGrom’s first three post-season outings, but he got just three swings and misses against the Royals.
“We don’t swing and miss,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We find ways to just keep putting the ball in play until you find holes.”
Of deGrom’s 94 pitches, 23 were fouled off by the Royals.
“I told Jake not everything has to be a strike,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “You’ve got to move it around. You’ve got to change speeds, give them something to look at. If you continue to pound the strike zone, they’re going to put it in play, and that’s what they did.”
Cueto has struggled on the road, where opposing fans taunt him by repeating his name in a sing-song voice. But since the Royals acquired the free-agent-tobe from Cincinnati in July, he’s been Johnny on the spot at Kauffman Stadium. He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings to win Game 5 of the Division Series against Houston, and Kansas City lined up its Series rotation to have Cueto starting Games 2 and 6 at home.