For the Mets to rally in the World Series, they need to start hitting
The story of the World Series so far has been the relentless play of the Kansas City Royals. Through two games, we’ve seen them battle back against Mets closer Jeurys Familia and later steal Game 1, and we’ve seen them knock around Jacob deGrom to hold serve at Kauffman Stadium and take a quick 2-0 lead in the series.
It’s what the Royals do. They refuse to stay down when they’re behind, and they inisist on consistently applying pressure when they’re ahead. They make the opposition raise its game to hold them down or keep pace, and therein lies the problem for the New York Mets. They haven’t been able to raise their games to match Kansas City’s, and as a result find themselves in a concerning position.
[Five key moments from the Royals’ 7-1 win in World Series Game 2]
The Mets haven’t had a response for the Royals, and despite their pitching failures grabbing the headlines, that rests on the offense. If they’re to get back in this series this weekend at Citi Field, that too will rest on the offense. An offense that is still searching for traction after paving the road through the National League playoffs.
Credit where it’s due to the Royals pitching staff. They’re a capable group that becomes especially dangerous once the ball is turned over to their late-inning relievers. But the Mets have had their chances against vulnerable pitchers in this series.
In Game 2, they faced Johnny Cueto, a pitcher who has been on the wrong side of hit-or-miss more times than not since joining Kansas City in July. Cueto was coming off a disastrous outing in ALCS Game 3, where he allowed eight runs in two-plus innings.
The Royals finished that game with mopup reliever Franklin Morales on the hill. In World Series Game 2, they finished with Cueto on the hill after he limited the Mets to one run on two hits, both by Lucas Duda.
In fact, Cueto’s outing was the first complete game by an AL pitcher in World Series play since Jack Morris went the distance in Game 7 back in 1991.
Clearly, Cueto was very good, but the Mets had one very good chance to damage him and perhaps even get him on the ropes, but came up short in the fourth inning. After Cueto walked two early in the frame, New York only managed one run, and that was aided by Eric Hosmer’s awkward footwork at first base. Those are the innings Kansas City’s offense consistently turns into three or four outbursts.
[Johnny Cueto’s gem stifles the Mets in Game 2 of the World Series]
The same was true in Game 1. New York’s offense didn’t do nearly enough after Curtis Granderson’s fifth-inning home run. The chances were there against Edinson Volquez. Thanks to an Eric Hosmer error, they even had a great chance against Kelvin Herrera in the eighth inning, but only managed one run. Sure they got an inning of Wade Davis, but they also saw Danny Duffy, Luke Hochevar, Ryan Madson and three innings of Game 4 starter Chris Young.
They couldn’t crack any of them, and the Royals eventually wore them out in 14 innings.
To put all of the focus or pressure on one or two guys would be unfair, but there are obviously two guys that stand out right now in New York’s offense. The first is Daniel Murphy, who entered the series having homered in a record-setting six straight postseason games. Murphy has been on base four times in 11 plate appearances during the series and scored in each game, but the Royals have kept him in the ballpark. Without that instant offense, New York has struggled putting together big innings.
The other guy is Yoenis Cespedes. The slugging outfielder carried New York’s offense after being acquired on July 31, but entered the World Series at far less than one-hundred percent thanks to a shoulder ailment. Through two games, he’s 1-for-10 with three srikeouts.
Those are two big bats being silenced. But as manager Terry Collins noted after the game, it’s not just them. Collins was anything but shy or dismissive about their struggles, but expressed urgency for everybody to step going in to Game 3.
“Yeah, we’re not hitting. That’s what I see. He’s not the only one. There’s a couple other ones in there.”
“We’ve stressed it enough, when we play good our lineup produces throughout. It just shows you right now with us not hitting how big Dan Murphy really was in the NLCS with the home runs.”
“We’ve got to pick it up offensively. We’ve got to do a better job of using the field to hit. And we’ve done it. We certainly have done it. We’ve got to do it again.”
They have to do it and they have to do it quickly. They’re facing an uphill battle against an incredibly talented, resilient and hungry Royals team that’s determined to finish the job, but the Mets have shown strong resolve through the season as well. It’s not a time to give up, but it’s past time to start hitting the baseball.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
