By Joseph Giordano || Staff Writer
The 2015 World Series teams have been very evenly matched throughout the first four games of the series, and baseball fans everywhere are hoping the action continues throughout the end of this baseball season.
Through four games, the Kansas City Royals currently lead the series three games to one against the New York Mets. The first game was a back-and-forth contest that was decided after five hours, nine minutes, and 14 innings. The game began with a first pitch inside the park homerun hit by Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, which set the tone for what would be a wild and entertaining game. After seven innings and the score at 3-3, a crucial error by Royals first basemen Eric Hosmer allowed Mets center fielder Juan Lagares to score and take a four to three lead late in the game.
With just two outs remaining before clinching a crucial game one win, the Mets surrendered a ninth inning home run to Alex Gordon, which tied the game at four. After four more innings of scoreless baseball, the Royals were finally able to scratch across a run during inning 14 on an Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly, effectively making up for his crucial error earlier in the game. As game two rolled along, the Royals kept the momentum going from their 14-inning battle the previous night. A four-run fifth inning and a three-run eighth inning provided Royals’ starting pitcher Johnny Cueto with all the run support he would need on the night. He threw a dazzling nine innings, only allowing two hits and one run on his way to a masterful pitching performance and 2-0 series lead for the Royals.
This crucial win against two of the Mets’ top pitchers, Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom, left the Mets in a must-win situation heading back to Citi Field for a must-win game three. The Mets turned to 23-year-old phenom Noah Syndergaard to turn their luck around, and he didn’t disappoint. Syndergaard set the tone early delivering a 98 mile per hour fastball up and into leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar and let the Royals know he meant business on the cold October night.
After surrendering three runs in the first two innings, Syndergaard was lights out for the rest of his appearance and pitched six quality innings. The Mets captain and team leader David Wright delivered a homerun in the bottom of the first inning and Curtis Granderson delivered a 2-run homerun of his own in the third inning to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. After that, they never looked back. They tacked on five more runs over the course of the game and won by a final of 9-3. In such a high-pressure game, the Mets found a way to win and bring the series to 2-1.
Late Saturday night, the Mets held a 3-2 lead going into the top of the 8th. However, a three-run rally by the Royals led to them getting a crucial win at Citi Field. The Mets are facing a tall task of coming back now, but this team is certainly capable. Many counted out the Mets after falling down 2-0, but the Mets have battled back and made this an exciting series.
The possibility of three more games has all baseball excited and made the World Series must-watch television. Will the Royals hold on to secure their spot at the top of baseball or will the Mets battle back? The answer to this may be unknown, but one thing is for sure: this is what baseball is all about.
Sophomore Joseph Giordano is a staff writer. His email is jgiorda1@fandm.edu.