KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Following the final out, after Johnny Cueto completed his two-hitter, several hundred fans remained in Kauffman Stadium, wanting one more look at the Kansas City Royals.
The next time they see Eric Hosmer and his teammates might be in a parade.
After smothering the Mets 7-1 on Wednesday night with Cueto and their pesky offense, the Royals have a 2-0 World Series lead and can capture their first title since 1985 when play continues at New York's Citi Field this weekend.
Rather than look ahead and anticipate a celebration, Hosmer thought back to Kansas City's crushing seven-game loss to the Giants in 2014.
"There's still a lot of work yet to do," he said. "Last year we took a 2-1 lead in San Francisco and were feeling pretty good about ourselves."
Kansas City wore down Jacob deGrom with persistence and prowess Wednesday night, then pounced. Hosmer hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in a four-run fifth inning that included 14 foul balls.
Nineteen hours after Hosmer's sacrifice fly won a 14-inning thriller in Game 1, Cueto varied his delivery with occasional quick pitches and kept the Mets off balance. An excited crowd stood on its feet for long stretches to cheer on the rainy night. Some fans as well as the Royals' mascot, Slugerrr, wore wigs resembling Cueto's long, dark dreadlocks.
After Thursday's off day, Citi Field hosts its first World Series game Friday. Forty-one of the 51 teams to take 2-0 leads in best-of-seven World Series have gone on to win the title, including nine straight since Atlanta stumbled against the New York Yankees in 1996.
"I don't want it coming back here," Alcides Escobar said. "I want to finish it there."
Kansas City had the best contact hitters in the major leagues this season, missing on just 19.7 percent of swings, according to STATS. The Dodgers and Cubs swung and missed 58 times in deGrom's first three postseason outings. Even though he threw at up to 98 mph, deGrom got just three swings and misses against the Royals, the lowest of his career.
"We don't swing and miss," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "We find ways to just keep putting the ball in play until you find holes."
Of deGrom's 94 pitches, 23 were fouled off.
"I've learned that they hit mistakes very well," Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud said. "I've learned that they don't try to do too much with the baseball. They keep the line moving."
Cueto has struggled on the road, where opposing fans taunt him by repeating his name in a sing-song voice. But since the Royals acquired the free-agent-to-be from Cincinnati in July, he has been "Johnny on the spot" at Kauffman Stadium. He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings to win Game 5 of the American League Division Series against Houston, and Kansas City lined up its World Series rotation to have Cueto starting Games 2 and 6 at home.
His hair obscuring the royal blue letters across the back of his white uniform, Cueto struck out four and walked three, allowing the fewest hits in a World Series complete game by an AL pitcher since Boston's Jim Lonborg's one-hitter against St. Louis in 1967.
"As a hitter, it's all about timing, and he disrupted it tonight for sure," Mets captain David Wright said after an 0-for-4 night.
Both New York hits were soft singles by Lucas Duda, an infield roller to third that took advantage of the shift in the second inning and an opposite-field RBI single to left in the fourth. When Yoenis Cespedes flied to center for the final out, Cueto pointed to the sky, kissed his hand, tapped his chest softly twice and hugged catcher Salvador Perez. Cueto tossed the first World Series complete game by an AL pitcher since Minnesota's Jack Morris won Game 7 against Atlanta in 1991.
"That's what they brought me here for, was to help win a World Series," Cueto said.
DeGrom, 3-0 in the postseason coming in, allowed four runs, six hits and three walks over five innings in a hairy matchup of pitchers with contrasting long locks. Pitching with seven days' rest, deGrom held Kansas City to one hit through four innings but got in trouble in the fifth, when he walked Alex Gordon on a full-count slider leading off.
Alex Rios followed with a single, and Escobar fouled off a pair of bunt attempts before driving an 0-2 slider up the middle for a tying single.
Ben Zobrist's grounder advanced the runners, and Lorenzo Cain fouled off four pitches before a fly out to short center. Hosmer singled off the mound into center field for a 3-1 lead, and Kendrys Morales singled in another run.
Gordon added an RBI double in the eighth off Jonathon Niese, a ball off the glove of shortstop Wilmer Flores. Paulo Orlando, the first Brazil-born player to appear in a World Series, followed with a sacrifice fly against Addison Reed, and Escobar tripled in a run.
That was more than enough against the Mets, who are hitting .165 in the World Series with one extra-base hit.
"By no means are we done," Duda said. "We've created a hole for ourselves, but we've been here before."
UP NEXT
Rookie Noah Syndergaard starts Game 3 for the Mets and Yordano Ventura for the Royals.
DROPPING A PAIR
New York is 0-2 for its third straight World Series. The Mets beat Boston in seven games in 1986 and lost to the Yankees in five in 2000.
The next time they see Eric Hosmer and his teammates might be in a parade.
After smothering the Mets 7-1 on Wednesday night with Cueto and their pesky offense, the Royals have a 2-0 World Series lead and can capture their first title since 1985 when play continues at New York's Citi Field this weekend.
Rather than look ahead and anticipate a celebration, Hosmer thought back to Kansas City's crushing seven-game loss to the Giants in 2014.
"There's still a lot of work yet to do," he said. "Last year we took a 2-1 lead in San Francisco and were feeling pretty good about ourselves."
Kansas City wore down Jacob deGrom with persistence and prowess Wednesday night, then pounced. Hosmer hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in a four-run fifth inning that included 14 foul balls.
Nineteen hours after Hosmer's sacrifice fly won a 14-inning thriller in Game 1, Cueto varied his delivery with occasional quick pitches and kept the Mets off balance. An excited crowd stood on its feet for long stretches to cheer on the rainy night. Some fans as well as the Royals' mascot, Slugerrr, wore wigs resembling Cueto's long, dark dreadlocks.
After Thursday's off day, Citi Field hosts its first World Series game Friday. Forty-one of the 51 teams to take 2-0 leads in best-of-seven World Series have gone on to win the title, including nine straight since Atlanta stumbled against the New York Yankees in 1996.
"I don't want it coming back here," Alcides Escobar said. "I want to finish it there."
Kansas City had the best contact hitters in the major leagues this season, missing on just 19.7 percent of swings, according to STATS. The Dodgers and Cubs swung and missed 58 times in deGrom's first three postseason outings. Even though he threw at up to 98 mph, deGrom got just three swings and misses against the Royals, the lowest of his career.
"We don't swing and miss," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "We find ways to just keep putting the ball in play until you find holes."
Of deGrom's 94 pitches, 23 were fouled off.
"I've learned that they hit mistakes very well," Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud said. "I've learned that they don't try to do too much with the baseball. They keep the line moving."
Cueto has struggled on the road, where opposing fans taunt him by repeating his name in a sing-song voice. But since the Royals acquired the free-agent-to-be from Cincinnati in July, he has been "Johnny on the spot" at Kauffman Stadium. He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings to win Game 5 of the American League Division Series against Houston, and Kansas City lined up its World Series rotation to have Cueto starting Games 2 and 6 at home.
His hair obscuring the royal blue letters across the back of his white uniform, Cueto struck out four and walked three, allowing the fewest hits in a World Series complete game by an AL pitcher since Boston's Jim Lonborg's one-hitter against St. Louis in 1967.
"As a hitter, it's all about timing, and he disrupted it tonight for sure," Mets captain David Wright said after an 0-for-4 night.
Both New York hits were soft singles by Lucas Duda, an infield roller to third that took advantage of the shift in the second inning and an opposite-field RBI single to left in the fourth. When Yoenis Cespedes flied to center for the final out, Cueto pointed to the sky, kissed his hand, tapped his chest softly twice and hugged catcher Salvador Perez. Cueto tossed the first World Series complete game by an AL pitcher since Minnesota's Jack Morris won Game 7 against Atlanta in 1991.
"That's what they brought me here for, was to help win a World Series," Cueto said.
DeGrom, 3-0 in the postseason coming in, allowed four runs, six hits and three walks over five innings in a hairy matchup of pitchers with contrasting long locks. Pitching with seven days' rest, deGrom held Kansas City to one hit through four innings but got in trouble in the fifth, when he walked Alex Gordon on a full-count slider leading off.
Alex Rios followed with a single, and Escobar fouled off a pair of bunt attempts before driving an 0-2 slider up the middle for a tying single.
Ben Zobrist's grounder advanced the runners, and Lorenzo Cain fouled off four pitches before a fly out to short center. Hosmer singled off the mound into center field for a 3-1 lead, and Kendrys Morales singled in another run.
Gordon added an RBI double in the eighth off Jonathon Niese, a ball off the glove of shortstop Wilmer Flores. Paulo Orlando, the first Brazil-born player to appear in a World Series, followed with a sacrifice fly against Addison Reed, and Escobar tripled in a run.
That was more than enough against the Mets, who are hitting .165 in the World Series with one extra-base hit.
"By no means are we done," Duda said. "We've created a hole for ourselves, but we've been here before."
UP NEXT
Rookie Noah Syndergaard starts Game 3 for the Mets and Yordano Ventura for the Royals.
DROPPING A PAIR
New York is 0-2 for its third straight World Series. The Mets beat Boston in seven games in 1986 and lost to the Yankees in five in 2000.
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| New York - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Granderson grounded out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Wright grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Murphy struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Jacob deGrom pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Escobar flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Zobrist flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Cain flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Céspedes lined out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Duda reached on infield single to third. | 0 | 0 |
| d'Arnaud grounded into double play, third to second to first, Duda out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Jacob deGrom pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Hosmer struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| K. Morales flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Moustakas grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Conforto struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Flores grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 0 |
| Lagares flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Jacob deGrom pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Pérez flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Gordon walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Rios struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Escobar grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Gordon out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Granderson walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Wright fouled out to first. | 0 | 0 |
| Murphy walked, Granderson to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Céspedes grounded into fielder's choice to third, Granderson out at third, Murphy to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Duda singled to shallow left center, Murphy scored, Céspedes to third. | 1 | 0 |
| d'Arnaud flied out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Jacob deGrom pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Zobrist safe at first on error by first baseman Duda. | 1 | 0 |
| Cain lined out to first. | 1 | 0 |
| Hosmer singled to center, Zobrist to second. | 1 | 0 |
| K. Morales grounded out to first, Zobrist to third, Hosmer to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Moustakas walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Pérez grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Conforto fouled out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Flores grounded out to pitcher. | 1 | 0 |
| Lagares flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Jacob deGrom pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Gordon walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Rios singled to shallow left, Gordon to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Escobar singled to center, Gordon scored, Rios to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Zobrist grounded out to first, Rios to third, Escobar to second. | 1 | 1 |
| Cain lined out to center. | 1 | 1 |
| Hosmer singled to center, Rios and Escobar scored. | 1 | 3 |
| K. Morales singled to right, Hosmer to third. | 1 | 3 |
| Moustakas singled to right, Hosmer scored, K. Morales to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Pérez grounded out to third. | 1 | 4 |
| 4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Granderson grounded out to second. | 1 | 4 |
| Wright flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| Murphy struck out looking. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Hansel Robles pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Robles relieved deGrom. | 1 | 4 |
| Gordon flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| Rios flied out to left. | 1 | 4 |
| Escobar grounded out to third. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Céspedes struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| Duda flied out to left. | 1 | 4 |
| d'Arnaud flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Jonathon Niese pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Niese relieved Robles. | 1 | 4 |
| Zobrist grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 4 |
| Cain walked. | 1 | 4 |
| Hosmer flied out to left. | 1 | 4 |
| K. Morales struck out swinging. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Orlando in right field. | 1 | 4 |
| Conforto flied out to center. | 1 | 4 |
| Flores lined out to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Lagares grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 4 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Jonathon Niese pitching for New York | NYM | KC |
| Moustakas singled to right. | 1 | 4 |
| Pérez doubled to left, Moustakas to third. | 1 | 4 |
| Gordon doubled to left, Moustakas scored, Pérez to third. | 1 | 5 |
| Reed relieved Niese. | 1 | 5 |
| Orlando hit sacrifice fly to left, Pérez scored, Gordon to third. | 1 | 6 |
| Escobar tripled to deep center, Gordon scored. | 1 | 7 |
| Gilmartin relieved Reed. | 1 | 7 |
| Zobrist grounded out to shortstop. | 1 | 7 |
| Cain popped out to second. | 1 | 7 |
| 3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Johnny Cueto pitching for Kansas City | NYM | KC |
| Granderson grounded out to second. | 1 | 7 |
| Wright grounded out to third. | 1 | 7 |
| Murphy walked. | 1 | 7 |
| Murphy to second on fielder's indifference. | 1 | 7 |
| Céspedes flied out to right. | 1 | 7 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| New York Mets | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Granderson RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | .125 | .364 | .500 |
| Wright 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .182 | .182 | .182 |
| Murphy 2B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 22 | .222 | .364 | .222 |
| Céspedes LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | .100 | .100 | .100 |
| Duda 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .444 | .444 | .444 |
| d'Arnaud C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .111 | .111 | .111 |
| Conforto DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Flores SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .000 | .125 | .000 |
| Lagares CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | .333 | .333 | .333 |
| Totals | 28 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 122 | |||
| BATTING RBI: Duda (1) 2-out RBI: Duda GIDP: d'Arnaud Mets RISP: 1-4 (Céspedes 0-2, d'Arnaud 0-1, Duda 1-1) Team LOB: 3 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Duda (1, ground ball) | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO |
| Attendance | 40,410 (106.6% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:54 |
| Weather | 52 degrees, clear |
| Wind | 4 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Mark Carlson, First Base - Mike Winters, Second Base - Jim Wolf, Third Base - Alfonso Marquez, Left Field - Gary Cederstrom, Right Field - Bill Welke |
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