The Kansas City Royals used a brilliant complete-game outing from Johnny Cueto and a four-run blitz in the fifth inning to defeat the New York Mets, 7-1, in Game 2 of the World Series to take a 2-0 lead as things gets set to shift east.
Cueto stayed perfect at home this postseason by striking out four and allowing a mere two hits over nine innings. The Royals have now won a franchise-best seven straight playoff games at home, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Wednesday’s outing at Kauffman Stadium was strikingly similar to Cueto’s Game 5 effort against the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series. According to Grantland’s Rany Jazayerli, that puts him on a unique level:
Mets starter Jacob deGrom didn’t allow a hit through three innings, but the Royals finally got to him for a single in the fourth before posting four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth, among those a two-run single from Eric Hosmer:
Every Royal batted against deGrom in the fifth as they ultimately wore down New York’s ace. Hosmer’s go-ahead punch put him in elite company, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Once again, Kansas City’s depth helped facilitate a rally, as Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller noted:
Joe Lemire pointed to some staggering numbers regarding Kansas City’s plate discipline against deGrom, who struck out just two over five innings:
After allowing four earned runs, deGrom became the first New York pitcher to surrender at least that many in a game since Logan Verrett on Sept. 22, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.
Unlike in Game 1, the Royals offense needed some time to grease the wheels Wednesday night as deGrom and Cueto engaged in a pitcher’s duel early on.
The Mets tallied the game’s only hit over the first three innings as it appeared deGrom was locked in, which led Sporting News’ Ryan Fagan to suggest an alternate scoring process:
On the other side, the Kansas City Star‘s Andy McCullough took note of Cueto’s sensational start at home:
Cueto only struggled in the fourth inning, when Lucas Duda briefly gave the Mets the lead on an RBI single. Joel Sherman of the New York Post explained how Cueto’s lack of command set up the game’s first run:
The story, though, was the fifth-inning rally facilitated by Alcides Escobar’s game-tying single. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Escobar continued his climb up a noteworthy list with the base knock:
Thanks to Cueto’s masterful display, the Royals are headed to Citi Field up 2-0 with the odds heavily in their favor. Historically, teams up 2-0 in the World Series wind up capturing the title 80.4 percent of the time, per WhoWins.com.
However, the Royals will need to be on guard in Game 3. According to WhoWins, teams up 2-0 are just 24-27 all-time in Game 3s.
The Mets will turn the ball over to Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 2.77 ERA) against Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura (0-1, 5.09 ERA) for Friday’s 8 p.m. ET showdown in New York, and it’s safe to say the pressure is on the 23-year-old as he gets set to take the mound for his first-ever World Series start.
Postgame Reaction
“That’s what they brought me here for was to help win a World Series,” Cueto said, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez. “And that’s what I’ve worked for.”
Hosmer discussed all things Game 2 with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal following the win:
Mets third baseman David Wright hesitated to fault his team for the deficit it faces.
“It’s not so much what we haven’t done,” Wright said, per the Wall Street Journal‘s Jared Diamond. It’s what they’ve done.”
Looking ahead, deGrom sees a return to Citi Field as a positive development for the Mets, according to DiComo:
“By no means are we done,” Duda added, per DiComo.
Mets manager Terry Collins echoed the first baseman’s sentiment.
“You’ve got to bounce back,” Collins said, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan. “That’s big league baseball.”
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