Five key moments from the Royals’ 5-3 victory in World Series Game 4

The relentless Kansas City Royals have done it again. After not looking up to par in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday and falling behind early in Game 4, they put together a big late-inning rally to knock off the New York Mets 5-3 and move to within one victory of a World Series championship.

Despite a terrific performance from New York’s Michael Conforto, who connected for two solo home runs, the Royals were able to stay close and chip away in the middle innings. Then in the eighth, they broke through, scoring three times thanks to two walks and a crushing Daniel Murphy error.

It’s the same rally they’ve mounted at least once in each postseason round this season, and it’s the consistent resilience they show that has them in full control of the series.

Now, we present a broader look at the five key moments in the game, beginning with Murphy’s error.

DANIEL MURPHY WHIFFS ON GROUNDER
It’s been said time and time again during the postseason. If you give the Royals an opening, they’ll turn it into a big inning. It happened again in the eighth inning. After Mets set up man Tyler Clippard walked Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain with one out, Terry Collins turned to his closer Jeurys Familia for a five-out save. It didn’t work, because second baseman Daniel Murphy, the man whose historic offensive surge in the postseason carried the Mets to the World Series, completely whiffed on Eric Hosmer’s ground ball, allowing the tying run to score.

It’s a play Murphy has to make and usually does. He just got in a hurry and tried to do too much, too quickly. If he completes the play, Kansas City has second and third with two outs and no runs in. It completely changed the complexion of the inning and the game, and will hang over the Mets heads if they can’t rally to win the series.

MIKE MOUSTAKAS PUTS KANSAS CITY AHEAD
With the game now tied in the eighth inning and the door still wide open, Mike Moustakas gave Kansas City its first lead of the evening with a ground ball single to right field. It wasn’t smoked by any means. It was a roller that had eyes, finding its way past a diving Murphy this time. One can only imagine Murphy’s helpless feeling at that point, knowing his error opened the door. Lorenzo Cain scored on the play, but the Royals weren’t done yet.

SALVADOR PEREZ REDEEMS HIMSELF
It what looked like the key at-bat of the game prior to the eighth inning, Perez struck out against Bartolo Colon with the tying run on second base. Though the at-bat was a classic 10-pitch battle, it was still a lost opportunity. Perez made good though in the eighth, lining a single to right field to extend the Royals lead to 5-3.

YOENIS CESPEDES KICKS THE BALL, OPENS THE DOOR
About those slight openings. The Royals got another one in the fifth inning when Yoenis Cespedes couldn’t handle Perez’s sinking liner. The ball ended up ricocheting off Cespedes’ leg, allowing Perez to reach second base. One batter later, Alex Gordon cashed him in with an RBI single. For the time being, it seemed like an innocent moment. Especially after Michael Conforto’s second home run gave New York a 3-1 edge, but it was definitely a turning point as the Royals started chipping away.

CESPEDES BASERUNNING GAFFE ENDS THE GAME
It truly was a rough night for Murphy and Cespedes, the two guys who played the biggest offensive roles in getting New York to the World Series. Defensive mishaps aside, Cespedes committed perhaps the biggest gaffe of the game when he got doubled off on Lucas Duda’s soft liner to end the game. With Murphy on first base, Cespedes represented the tying run, but he either misread the ball or lost track of outs. He was out by several feet, and any chance the Mets had to tie or win the game was gone.

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