Royals outlast Mets in 14 innings in WS opener

Tuesday night in Kansas City, Mo., the Royals beat the Mets in 14 innings in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series (KC 5, NYM 4). The Royals now lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. Game 2 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Wednesday.

In terms of innings played, Tuesday’s game was tied for the longest in World Series history. Here are 13 other things to know about Game 1.

1. The Mets have never won Game 1 of the World Series.

Coming into 2015, the Mets had played in four World Series in franchise history: 1969, 1973, 1986 and 2000. They lost Game 1 all four times. Following Game 1 Tuesday night, they are now an imperfect 0-5 in Game 1 of the World Series. Ouch.

2. Familia finally gave up hard contact.

The Mets had a 4-3 lead with closer Jeurys Familia on the mound in the ninth inning and they had every reason to feel confident. Familia has been untouchable this postseason, allowing only two hits and two walks in 9 2/3 scoreless innings. He’s been dominant.

And then Alex Gordon went and did this:

That is no cheap home run, either. Gordon crushed that thing to dead center. According to Inside Edge, which records batted ball data, that was the first “hard” hit ball allowed by Familia this postseason:

In a nutshell, Inside Edge classifies every batted ball based on the quality of the contact: soft, medium and hard. The Gordon homer was the 26th ball in play against Familia this October and the first to be classified as “hard” contact. Familia has been that good.

3. The Mets should have challenged Wright’s error in the 14th.

The game-winning rally started with an error in the 14th. David Wright bobbled Alcides Escobar‘s ground ball, then his hurried throw pulled Lucas Duda off the bag at first base. Mets manager Terry Collins probably should have challenged this play. Look:

Other angles make it appear Duda was clearly off the base, but still. It’s extra innings in the World Series. One run loses the game. That seems like a play worth challenging given the stakes. There was no challenge and eventually Escobar scored the winning run on Eric Hosmer‘s walk-off sacrifice fly.

4. Hosmer’s error was only the second Royals’ error this postseason.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a team more defensively sound than the Royals. They seem to catch everything, both on the infield and outfield. It’s not only quality defensive players either, their positioning is excellent, too.

So, naturally, the Mets took a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning because of a defensive miscue. Hosmer whiffed on Wilmer Flores‘ chopper and let it get by him, allowing Juan Lagares to score. Lagares worked a great at-bat against Kelvin Herrera, reached on a single, then stole second base to create the run. Great job by him.

Hosmer’s error was only Kansas City’s second error of the postseason. Mike Moustakas booted a ground ball in the ninth inning of ALCS Game 1 that was inconsequential to the outcome. Hosmer’s error was pretty huge, though.

5. The Mets fell behind the Royals one pitch into the World Series.

Not once during the NLCS did the Mets trail the Cubs. The score was tied for four innings and the Mets led the other 32 (!). They dominated that series. Then this happened on the first pitch of the first inning in the World Series:

A leadoff inside-the-park home run by Escobar? That is bananas. Escobar is having an incredible postseason and he’s been swinging at the first pitch pretty much every game, too. I was a little surprised Matt Harvey threw him a first pitch fastball given Escobar’s ultra-aggressive approach.

6. The Royals contact-bombed Harvey.

For only the second time in his career, Harvey struck out only two batters in Game 1. He struck out two batters in a brutal loss to the Giants this June (seven runs in six innings) and that’s it. At least three strikeouts in every other start of his big league career.

Harvey threw 80 pitches in Game 1 and generated only seven swings and misses, or 8.8 percent. His regular season swing and miss rate was 11.6 percent. That’s what the Royals do. They put the bat on the ball better than any team in baseball.

Also of note: Harvey stayed away from his fastball and tried to beat the Royals with his offspeed pitches. I’m not sure if that was part of the game plan or if Harvey had a bad fastball in Game 1 — he could have had location problems or not liked the way the ball was coming out of his hand, something like that — but he shied away from his mid-90s gas.

Harvey pitched well in Game 1 — three runs in six innings, plus he did retired 11 in a row at one point — but the Royals made him work for it.

7. The bunt in the eighth inning made sense, but Cain’s execution was bad.

With the Mets nursing a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals had a chance to get back into the game following Ben Zobrist‘s leadoff double against former A’s teammate Tyler Clippard. The Royals had the tying run in scoring position with no outs and the 3-4-5 hitters due up. Then Lorenzo Cain did this:

That Gameday screen grab doesn’t show you how awkward Cain looked trying to bunt. It was not pretty at all. I guess that’s not surprising for a guy with nearly 2,000 career regular season plate appearances and zero (zero!) sacrifice bunts. Cain did not look comfortable trying to bunt there.

It’s easy to argue Cain should not have squared around to bunt there. For example:

1. The runner is already in scoring position.
2. Cain is a really good hitter.
3. Cain is not an experienced hitter.
4. Clippard has not pitched all that well this postseason.

That about covers it, right? I happen to think the idea of the bunt made sense there. Yes the runner is already in scoring position, but one run in that spot of the game is incredibly valuable, so it’s worth moving him up. The Royals make more contact than literally every other team in baseball, too. Pretty good chance they’d get the runner in from third.

Instead, Cain struck out and had just a terrible at-bat. Three pitch strikeout and he looked bad doing it. The Royals never scored and the bunt short-circuited the inning. Unproductive out. Cain did admit he was bunting on his own after the game.

8. Escobar is approaching a postseason record.

Escobar, who went 11 for 23 (.478) in the ALCS and was named series MVP, is quickly approaching a postseason record. Check it out:

Escobar went 0 for 5 and reached on the error after the first inning inside-the-park home runs, so he is still four hits away from tying the record. He has at least three more games to play. Give the way he’s been swinging the bat this postseason, I like Escobar’s odds of tying and eventually breaking the record..

9. Murphy didn’t homer, but he is still hitting.

For the first time since Game 3 of the NLDS, Daniel Murphy failed to hit a home run Tuesday night. He had gone deep in a record six consecutive postseason games leading into Game 1 of the World Series. Murphy still had a good game, however. He went 2 for 7 and scored a run. Not too shabby.

10. Young was throwing gas (By his standards).

In the 12th inning, Royals manager Ned Yost brought Game 4 starter Chris Young out of the bullpen. Young threw 53 pitches in three scoreless and hitless innings, so he should be in good shape to start Game 4 Saturday.

Anyway, Young was pretty amped ump in his first career World Series appearance. He hit 90 mph on the gun, which is unusual for him:

Young averaged 87.2 mph with his fastball this year, which was his highest average fastball velocity since 2008 (87.3 mph). He averaged 86.1 mph last year and 85.5 mph the year before. What a world.

11. Orlando became the first Brazilian to play in the World Series.

In Game 1 Tuesday night, Royals outfielder Paulo Orlando became the first Brazilian-born player to play in the World Series. He replaced Alex Rios for defense in right field in the eighth inning. Orlando is one of only three players from Brazil to play in MLB, joining Yan Gomes of the Indians and Andre Rienzo of the Marlins. Orlando went 1 for 3 in the game.

12. Conforto made some quirky history in Game 1.

Rookie outfielder Michael Conforto drove in New York’s third run of Game 1 with a sacrifice fly Tuesday night. He joined a very exclusive club with that RBI. A club with one member:

That is pretty darn cool. Does that qualify Conforto as a Big Game Player? I’d say so.

13. History is on the Royals’ side.

It goes without saying that winning Game 1 is pretty important. It’s not imperative in a best-of-seven series, but every team wants to start the series off on the right foot.

Coming into the 2015 World Series, teams are 104-60 all-time in best-of-seven series after winning Game 1, including 68-38 in the World Series. The last team to win the World Series after losing Game 1: the 2009 Yankees.

The Royals take Game 1 thanks to Alex Gordon’s game-tying home run. (USATSI)

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