Mets blow ninth-inning lead in Game 5 after Lucas Duda’s errant throw home
NEW YORK — Three more outs. Matt Harvey was sure he had three more outs in him and convinced his manager of it. The New York Mets would stay alive in the World Series if he did. But the Kansas City Royals, well, they don’t give up that easily.
[Related: Yoenis Cespedes leaves Game 5 with injury after fouling a ball off his knee]
With a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning, the Mets sent Harvey back to the mound after he’d pitched a stunning Game 5 of the World Series — eight innings, no runs, nine strikeouts. Harvey, in fact, didn’t give manager Terry Collins much choice, telling him in the dugout, “No way you are taking me out.”
So Harvey stayed in and then came the chaos the Royals are so good at creating. Lorenzo Cain drew a walk to start the inning and promptly stole second. Eric Hosmer doubled him home. That’s when Harvey got the hook for closer Jeurys Familia. Mike Moustakas grounded out to first base, advancing Hosmer to third. Then Salvador Perez came up and everything went awry for the Mets.
Perez grounded to third base, where David Wright picked up, correctly looked Hosmer back at third and threw to first base to get Perez out. Hosmer dashed home. It looked like Lucas Duda would have plenty of time to nail Hosmer at the plate, but Duda’s throw was wide and Hosmer scored the tying run.
Those relentless, resilient Royals! While this falls squarely on Duda and his throw, this is exactly what the Royals do, how they win. They force mistakes, they make top-notch closers crumble (it’s the third blown save for Familia in this series) and they create situations where their opponents can’t make mistakes.
The Mets did and Game 5 went from a fantastic start by Harvey and a stay-alive win for New York to another extra-innings duel with the Royals. As they’ve done all postseason, the Royals completed the victory in the 12th inning. Kansas City scored five runs during the frame, picking up a 7-2 victory to win their first World Series since 1985.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
