The Rally Royals did it again. Alex Gordon’s home run in the ninth inning forced extra innings after Eric Hosmer’s rare fielding miscue put the New York Mets on top in the eighth.
Then it was Hosmer’s sacrifice fly that scored with winning run in the 14th inning giving the Royals a 5-4 win and early lead in the 2015 World Series.
The game ended at 12:18 in the morning, only a 2005 matchup between Chicago and Houston went longer than this one.
In the 14th, Alcides Escobar reached on an error by third baseman David Wright. Ben Zobrist (3-for-6) singled to put runners at the corners against Bartolo Colon. He then issued an intentional walk to Lorenzo Cain to load the bases.
Hosmer did his job by lofting a fly ball to Curtis Granderson in right field that was deep enough to score Escobar who didn’t need to slide as he beat Granderson’s throw home.
(Video/MLB.com)
It was Hosmer’s error in the eighth inning that put the Royals in a 4-3 hole. After Kelvin Herrera surrendered a pair of two-out singles, Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores hit a high chopper behind the bag and as Hosmer moved in to backhand the short hop, the ball deflected off Hosmer into right field scoring the go-ahead run.
With one-out in the ninth, Alex Gordon took New York closer Jeurys Familia deep to center to tie the score at 4-4. It was Familia’s first blown save since July 30th.
(Video/MLB.com)
Game two is Wednesday with a short turnaround. Johnny Cueto faces Jacob deGrom.
DeGrom is 3-0 this postseason, with all wins on the road. Cueto is 1-1 with a 7.88 ERA in three postseason starts this year.