For the first time since 1985, the World Series went back to the Kansas City Royals home field. They defeated the New York Mets in five games, who have not won the World Series since 1986. This World Series was all about two teams that were well overdue for championships. But the Royals had the experience being in the same position this year as last, where the Mets had not been in the World Series since 2000.
Going into the series, the key matchups were going to be the young, talented starting pitchers for the Mets versus thr free-swinging, talented bats of the Royals. Many expected this to be a great series because of this incomparable matchup. Yet even though the Royals won this series in only five games, it was far from a blowout — the Mets led at some point in every single game of the series. What ultimately lost the series for the Mets: their bats went cold, the bullpen could not come through, and their defense failed to catch or defend the ball. As Alex Rodriguez said, “If the Mets catch the ball they win the World Series.” Well, that didn’t happen at all. From the very first pitch of Game 1, the Mets could not play defense. Mets Outfielder Yoenis Céspedes misplayed a fly ball that wound up being an inside-the-park homerun for Royals’ Alcides Escobar. The Mets would fight back in this game though, taking the lead into the 9th inning. But Mets closer Jeurys Familia let up a home run to Royals’ Alex Gordon and blew his first save since July. The Royals would then go on to win in the 14th inning.
In Game 2, the Mets jumped out to an early lead, but they would see that disappear as the Royals rallied once again to go on and beat New York by six. In Game 3, Noah Syndagard and the Mets sent an early message by throwing high and tight to the Royals free-swinging hitter Escobar on the first pitch. The pitch got Escobar to step off the plate, setting the Mets up to win Game 3 by six. In Game 4, the Mets once again had the lead and lost it in the last innings due to errors by Daniel Murphy, poor pitching, and clutch hitting by the Royals. The Royals then took the lead in the 8th inning. In the 9th inning, the Mets had Lucas Duda at the plate as the winning run. He hit a line drive right at the third baseman, and Cespedes was doubled off at first base to end the game.
Facing elimination, the Mets turned to the “Dark Knight” Matt Harvey to get them the win. Harvey came out and pitched beautifully. The Mets were leading 2-0 in the 9th inning and Harvey forced Mets Manager Terry Collins to keep him in the game. Every Mets fan loved it, as the crowd erupted with cheers of “Dark Knight.” Harvey let up a lead-off walk and then a double, and he was pulled for Familia. He came in and by the time the 9th was over the Royals had tied the game. In the 12th inning the Royals broke the game wide open and won Game 5 by a score of 7-2. The World Series is going back to K.C.
The MVP of the series was Salvador Perez. In the postseason, he had 4 homers and 8 RBI’s. The Royals won the World Series because they were the most clutch and had the best late innings team in the MLB. The Royals outscored their opponents in the postseason after the 7th inning, 51-11. That’s how you secure the Commissioners’ Trophy at the end of October.