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The Kansas City Royals won the World Series on Sunday night in the most appropriate possible fashion given how they’ve played this season, somehow erasing a two-run deficit in the ninth inning before winning Game 5 in the 12th inning, 7-2.

The Royals have quite literally made a habit of scoring runs late in games. They scored 51 of their 90 runs this postseason in the seventh inning or later, the most in baseball history, according to Elias Sports Bureau (via SportsCenter on Twitter).

They were truly the Comeback Kids, as Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine noted:

Maybe it was just the mentality they had. After all, when Matt Harvey stepped to the mound in the ninth inning—the man who had stifled the Royals for an entire game, remember—the Royals seemed pleased to greet the challenge, as Lorenzo Cain told Bob Nightengale of USA Today:

Maybe it was just a hunger the Royals had and the belief they possessed all season long, as manager Ned Yost spoke about after the game, per Fox Sports MLB: 

Maybe it was just the fact they were a well-built, well-rounded group of players that had a set philosophy and executed it well. Adam Schein of SiriusXM didn’t see many weaknesses:

What didn’t the Royals do well this year? This was a team with a group of players that aggressively approached each at-bat and didn’t swing and miss often. They fielded well, had solid starting pitching, possessed an awesome bullpen and always seemed to come up with a clutch hit.

After losing in last year’s World Series, they also brought a lot of experience into this year’s postseason. And it showed. Where the New York Mets seemed to make mistakes at the worst possible moment—Eric Hosmer should have been been gunned down at the plate in the bottom of the ninth in Game 5, but Lucas Duda sailed his throw, for example—the Royals seemed to play better as the pressure grew. 

And let’s give credit to Hosmer, who had the guts to put Duda under pressure in the first place, something the Royals didn’t do in last year’s World Series, as Jason Catania of Bleacher Report recalled:

Hosmer spoke about that decision after the game, per Olney:

But when Rachel Nichols of Turner Sports asked him what he was thinking as he made his dash toward home, he admitted, “At first—that I made a mistake.”

It was just that sort of season for the Royals, however. Even their mistakes turned into strokes of genius. 

There will be the temptation to say the Mets threw this World Series away as much as the Royals grabbed it for themselves, especially in New York. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com doesn’t think that’s a fair perception, however:

It’s easy to be cynical after teams blow leads they probably should have protected. But let’s also enjoy a Royals team that put so much pressure on the Mets—and every team they faced, for that matter—that they created the cracks that eventually became leaks that inevitably caused the dam to burst late in games.

For a moment, let’s just appreciate what the Royals accomplished. And perhaps the other organizations seeking a World Series after a long drought can learn something from them, too, as Scott Van Pelt of ESPN noted:

For Royals fans, the celebration was on. Actor David Koechner, reprising his role as Champ Kind from the film Anchorman, perhaps summed up the feelings of Royals fans everywhere the best:

The drought is over, Kansas City. Enjoy your champions. They were clearly the best team in baseball. They were arguably the most fun team to watch. They provided all of baseball with an October to remember.

And few would be surprised if they did so again next year, too. 

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The Kansas City Royals won Game 1 by orchestrating another comeback. They won Game 2 by slowly and methodically wearing out New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom with patience and constant contact at the plate while Johnny Cueto threw a complete-game gem.

It’s the script the Royals have been writing all season long. It shouldn’t be shocking they’ve performed it perfectly on the biggest stage. 

The Mets have written their own tale to this point, however, and the main protagonists have been the team’s brilliant starting pitchers. Matt Harvey and deGrom haven’t been able to beat the Royals. But perhaps Noah Syndergaard can flip the script.

Syndergaard has been great this postseason, going 1-1 in three appearances with a 2.77 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched. That followed an excellent regular season that saw him go 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 166 strikeouts in 150 innings.

The rookie is a large, intimidating power pitcher who doesn’t seem terribly caught up in the moment.

“I’m really excited about Friday’s start,” he told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, before calmly adding, “It’s just another game.”

Game 3 of the World Series, when your team is down 2-0 and you are a rookie, well…that’s not just another game. But Syndergaard‘s demeanor is a big part of his success, as his manager Terry Collins told Kernan.

He has no fear, he believes he belongs here. And that speaks volumes. When you’ve got that kind of stuff and you’re not afraid to throw it and you’re not afraid to give up a hit because you think you can get the next guy out, you can get dangerous. Noah just got better and better and better as the season went along with the confidence he had that he could be successful here. It all comes with his desire to get better.

Syndergaard has struck out nine batters in each of his last four starts. That may prove to be far trickier against a Royals team that swung and missed just three times against deGrom in Game 2, according to Ben Reiter of SI.com.

That’s right, folks—against one of the best pitchers in baseball, who threw 94 pitches in Game 2, the Royals failed to make contact when they swung at a pitch just three times. That’s insane. That’s the sort of approach that can neutralize a power arm. 

And it wasn’t an outlier performance from the Royals, as Jayson Stark of ESPN wrote:

The Mets’ pitching staff, as a whole, had a swing-and-miss rate in the first two rounds of 31.7 percent. Against the Royals, it has plummeted to less than half of that—to 15.4 percent.

And there’s nothing accidental about that. It’s the philosophy of the house. Swing early. Shorten up. Be aggressive. Don’t surrender.

Maybe Syndergaard can turn the tide. But even if he does stifle the Royals, the Mets still have the small matter of solving Yordano Ventura and his electric stuff. 

Ventura is 0-1 in four starts this postseason with a 5.09 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 21 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched. Those numbers don’t look great, but Ventura has gone five innings in each of his last three starts without giving up more than three runs, so he’s been a bridge to Kansas City’s elite bullpen more times than not. 

It’s been an up-and-down season for Ventura, but there’s no questioning how nasty he can be when he’s on his game. And after Cueto went nine innings, the Royals really only need five innings from him again before turning things over to their amazing bullpen, which Cueto gave some much-needed rest.

And even if the Mets get their bats going, those pesky Royals always seem to come up with hits in crunch time. 

Add it all up, and the Royals sure seem like a pending World Series champion. The Mets don’t feel like a team that is going to go down without a fight either, however, and Game 3 is probably a prime chance to steal a win. Syndergaard has been great and Ventura can be awfully shaky, so the Mets are going to sneak away with a 4-2 win in Game 3. 

They’ll win this battle. Just don’t expect them to win the war. 

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Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher David Price is set to hit free agency as one of the most prized targets on the market this winter. 

Continue for updates.

Blue Jays Interested in Re-Signing Price

Monday, Oct. 26

“We have strong interest in David Price coming back here,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Monday, per the team’s official Twitter account. “We will be in the game.”

Price, when asked if he would be back with the Blue Jays after the team was eliminated in the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, simply said, “I don’t know yet,” though he did say he would “absolutely” consider re-signing, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. 

He won’t come cheap. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe spoke to eight anonymous managers, scouts and general managers, who all agreed that Price would be the top pitcher on the market and should garner a deal in the range of seven years and $210 million. They speculated that the Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were all logical destinations for the pitcher.

Price, 30, was once again one of the top pitchers in baseball in 2015, finishing 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 225 strikeouts in 220.1 innings pitched in stints with the Detroit Tigers and Blue Jays.

While his trend of postseason struggles continued—he went 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched for the Blue Jays in this year’s playoffs—he’s a true ace and one of the game’s finest left-handed pitchers, making him a rare commodity. 

The Blue Jays will need to fork out a hefty sum of cash to keep him, but if they hope to return to the postseason in 2016 and win a World Series, the investment would appear to be a worthwhile, and perhaps even necessary, one.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly mutually agreed to part ways Thursday, according to the club’s official Twitter account. Now, the search for a new manager is underway.  

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Gabe Kapler Being Considered For Position

Friday, Oct. 23

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported “numerous people” in the industry would be shocked if Gabe Kapler was not named Dodgers manager in the next 24 hours. Rosenthal noted Kepler’s relationship with team president Andrew Friedman would be “paramount” in the search. 

Both Buster Olney of ESPN.com and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the Dodgers were beginning the process of hiring a new manager, with Gabe Kapler as one of the team’s candidates. Olney described Kapler as a “serious frontrunner” for the gig.

Kapler, 40, is the Dodgers minor league director and, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times noted, has more managerial experience than Mattingly did when he took the job. He spent one season as a Class A manager and is also a former player who spent 12 seasons in the major leagues.

Kapler certainly won’t be the only candidate, however. Shaikin speculated Chicago Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez, former San Diego Padres manager Bud Black, Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach and Dodgers third base coach Ron Roenicke would also be considered for the gig.

The job will certainly be a premier one for potential managers. The Dodgers have a talented cast of players already in place, led by starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. While the gig does present its challenges—dealing with the pressure of having one of baseball’s biggest payrolls and the expectations that follow, or getting the best out of outfielder Yasiel Puig—no current managerial openings come with a roster loaded with so much talent.

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Daniel Murphy had a very strong 2015 season for the New York Mets and has had an amazing postseason run. That might not be enough to keep him with the Mets after this season, however.

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Murphy Unlikely to Be Re-Signed By Mets

Monday, Oct. 19

According to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, “Two team sources said again Sunday that Murphy, despite his postseason heroics, is not in the Mets’ future plans.”

“He’s been great, really great, but it changes nothing,” one of those sources told Ackert.

Murphy, 30, is a free agent in the offseason and is likely in line for a pretty substantial deal after his epic October. He’s hitting .357 with five home runs, seven runs scored and eight RBI in seven games this postseason, has homered in four straight games and has helped lead the Mets to a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series.

According to Ackert, however, the Mets see Dilson Herrera as their second baseman of the future and feel confident that Wilmer Flores can play the position until Herrera is ready to seize the reins. While Murphy can also play first and third base, one rival executive doesn’t see the Mets paying a premium for him, per Ackert:

If they are keeping their payroll in the same neighborhood, they can’t afford to keep him. He’s making $8 million now, will probably get a bump on that and he’s going to want some years. They already have all that money invested in Juan Lagares (4 years, $22.5 million) and Michael Cuddyer (1 year, $10 million) who are both backups now. You can’t keep your payroll under control like that.

The Mets have a lot of young talent they’ll want to contractually control for years to come, so losing veterans like Murphy seems like an inevitability. While Murphy has proved to be an October star and could fuel the team to a World Series run, his days with the Mets appear to be numbered.

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Veteran pitcher Barry Zito announced his retirement from baseball Monday in an article he wrote for the Players’ Tribune:

I’m retiring today from baseball, but I’ll never be too far away from the game that made me who I am. I am beyond thankful to be at peace with walking away, thanks in large part to my year of renewal in Nashville with the Sounds. My return to Oakland last month was a “cherry on top” moment in my life that my family and I will never forget. I will no doubt be in the stands on both sides of the Bay in years to come.

Zito, 37, spent 15 seasons in the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. He was a three-time All-Star who won the Cy Young Award in 2002 and secured two World Series rings with the Giants in 2012 (though he was left off the postseason roster when the team won the 2010 title).

He was also one-third of the dominant pitching trio that included Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson during his early days with the Athletics.

He spent the 2015 season with the Nashville Sounds, Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, before being recalled to the Athletics in September. According to his article announcing his retirement, he will now be pursuing a career as a songwriter.

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Carlos Correa and the Houston Astros had the Kansas City Royals on the ropes. But they couldn’t provide the knockout punch.

The defending American League champions rallied for five runs in the top of the eighth inning Monday to pick up a shocking 9-6 win in Game 4 of an American League Division Series. The comeback set up a Game 5 in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday.

The Astros, led by rookies Carlos Correa (two home runs, four RBI) and Lance McCullers (two runs on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings), appeared to be on their way to the American League Championship Series after taking a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh. 

But the Royals scored seven unanswered runs to close the game, including Eric Hosmer’s two-run homer in the ninth. Hosmer finished with two hits, two runs and three RBI, while Wade Davis allowed one hit and struck out three in the final two innings to seal the victory.

It was familiar territory for the Royals, per ESPN Stats & Info: 

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports thinks this comeback may have been even better, however:

Ryan Madson (two runs on four hits in one inning) nabbed the win, while Tony Sipp (one unearned run on one hit in 0.1 innings) took the loss. Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura went five innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out eight.

Correa, meanwhile, played like a superstar, putting the team on his back for much of the game with a solo home run that tied the contest 2-2 in the bottom of the third, a go-ahead RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh. 

He’s certainly come a long way in a short time, as Passan noted:

Keith Law of ESPN had his own theory on Correa’s growth as a player:

It wasn’t enough to send the Astros to the ALCS, though.

Salvador Perez gave the Royals an early lead, ripping an opposite-field homer after Mike Moustakas drew a walk. That broke Kansas City’s streak of 22 hitless at-bats with runners on, per ESPN Stats & Info, which also noted Perez became the first catcher in Royals history with two home runs in one postseason.

Houston quickly responded, however, as Carlos Gomez hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. His injured oblique didn’t seem to be bothering him too much, as Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer noted:

Correa took over from there before the Royals threatened in the top of the seventh. Pinch runner Terrance Gore was initially called safe at third on a steal attempt with two outs. But replay showed he came off the bag while Luis Valbuena applied the tag, and the call was overturned.

Houston responded by exploding for three runs in the bottom of the inning. Jose Altuve led off the frame with a walk before Correa and Colby Rasmus hit back-to-back home runs.

Kansas City answered with five straight singles against relievers Will Harris and Sipp to make it 6-4. With the bases still loaded, Kendrys Morales hit a grounder back up the middle that deflected off Sipp’s glove, bounced off the mound and then nicked Correa’s glove on its was into center field, which allowed two Royals to score.

After Sipp got the first out of the inning, Luke Gregerson came on and walked Drew Butera to again load the bases. Alex Gordon followed with a groundout to second base to give Kansas City a one-run lead, and the stunned crowd was rendered silent.

The late comeback was nothing new for this team, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted:

But the Royals weren’t done. Hosmer’s homer gave them a three-run cushion for Davis. 

Correa did his part in the bottom of the ninth, opening the inning with a single, but the closer stranded him on first by striking out the next two batters and getting Gomez to fly out.

The Astros have the talent to recover from their Game 4 collapse, and they’ll send Game 1 winner Collin McHugh to the mound at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday. 

The Royals, meanwhile, reminded the baseball world they are never truly out of a game. They’ll go with Johnny Cueto in Game 5.

On Monday, Kansas City never looked particularly shellshocked when it fell behind or particularly impressed when it rallied to take the lead. The Royals looked like they had been there and done it all before. And they looked like they expect to do it again. 

Postgame Reaction

Despite the staggering nature of the loss, the Astros aren’t conceding defeat in the series just yet.

“We’re still in it,” Rasmus said after the game, per the team’s official Twitter account. “We have a chance to go to K.C. and win. That’s all you can ask for.” 

Manager A.J. Hinch added: “We’re going to be ready to play in Kansas City. It doesn’t surprise me it’s coming down to Game 5.”

The Royals had a much different response after the game, however, and players spoke of their mindsets heading into the transformative eighth inning.

“Everyone was telling each other, ‘You’ve got one big one left,'” Hosmer told Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.

Davis spoke with Jon Morosi after the game about watching the comeback and changing his mentality as it became apparent he would need to enter the game, per Fox Sports on Twitter:

Alex Gordon summed up the win, noting, “We love each other. We have fun together. And we fight together.”

And fight they did. Now it’s Houston’s turn to rise from the mat and prove it can take a punch too.

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For one American League Division Series, Game 3 on Sunday could be an ending. For the other series, Game 3 on Sunday is all about controlling home-field advantage. In both series, winning Game 3 is critical.

Let’s take a look at the remaining schedule and Game 3 odds while breaking down Sunday’s crucial matchups.  

After a heartbreaking loss in Game 2, the Toronto Blue Jays are on their last breath. Back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the 14th inning by Hanser Alberto and Delino DeShields Jr. gave the Texas Rangers a 6-4 win on Friday night and a 2-0 lead in the series. 

“Our backs are against the wall,” Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki told the Associated Press, via ESPN. “It’s not where you want to be, but that’s what we’re faced with.”

What they’ll next face is a matchup against starting pitcher Martin Perez, who has given up just one earned run in his last 13 innings. He hasn’t been terribly susceptible to the long ball, giving up just three in 78.2 innings pitched, and much of Toronto’s offense is predicated on home runs. 

Marco Estrada will try to earn the win for Toronto. The 32-year-old was 13-8 with a 3.13 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 131 strikeouts this season, so the Blue Jays are in good hands.

They will only go as far as the middle of the lineup takes them. Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Tulowitzki struggled in Game 2, going went 2-for-22 from the plate (though Donaldson did hit a solo home run). If that foursome doesn’t heat up, and soon, the Rangers will be quickly on their way to the American League Championship Series. 

The Kansas City Royals were everybody’s favorite American League upstarts in 2014. This year, the Houston Astros fit the bill. 

The two teams head into a crucial Game 3 with the series even at one game apiece after Kansas City recovered from an early 3-0 deficit on Friday. It was a familiar story for the Royals, as they relied on their prowess in the field, deep bullpen and clutch hitting to pull out the win. 

And boy, things should only get better from here, as Houston’s ace, Dallas Keuchel, will face Edinson Volquez on Sunday. Keuchel has been amazing this season, but as Jerry Crasnick of ESPN noted, the Royals won’t be intimidated:

Keuchel, in Houston, is tough to beat, and Kansas City will be facing a steep hill to return to the World Series if it goes down 2-1 in this series. But the Royals have done all of this before, so it’s not wise to bet against them just yet.

All games streamed at MLB.TV. All odds via OddsShark.com.

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The Seattle Mariners fired manager Lloyd McClendon on Friday after a disappointing 2015 season that saw the team once again fail to reach the postseason.

Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times first reported the news, and Greg Johns of MLB.com passed along confirmation from the team.

“After extensive conversations it became clear to me that our baseball philosophies were not closely aligned,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said, per Johns.

Johns noted bench coach Trent Jewett, third-base coach Rich Donnelly, outfield coach Andy Van Slyke and bullpen coach Mike Rojas were fired as well.

McClendon had a positive start to his tenure with Seattle in the 2014 season, following gigs as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager and hitting coach of the Detroit Tigers. He led Seattle to an 87-75 record last season, and the team finished third in the AL West. There was optimism heading into this season after the team added slugger Nelson Cruz to complement Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager and Mike Zunino, among others.

But Zunino continued to struggle at the dish, Cano’s output was significantly lower than it was during his days with the New York Yankees and, outside of Felix Hernandez, a pitching staff that finished second in team ERA in 2014 (3.17) struggled mightily throughout this season.

The writing appeared to be on the wall for McClendon in late August, when the Mariners fired the man who hired him, general manager Jack Zduriencik. An argument could be made that the GM and the manager were as much doomed by the regressions of several players as they were by any decisions they made, but regardless, the Mariners will have a much different look in the front office and in the dugout next season.

After a fifth losing season in the past six years, a changing of the guard might be exactly what the organization needs.

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Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia has decided to return to the team next season, choosing to forgo the opt-out clause in his contract, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

“I’m coming back,” Scioscia simply said, per Fletcher.   

The longtime manager signed a 10-year contract extension with the team in 2009, though he can opt out of the deal at any point, per JB Blanchard of the Chicago Sun Times.

Scioscia, 56, has spent 16 seasons as the manager of the Angels, compiling a 1,416-1,176 record and leading the team to a World Series title in 2002. He’s also led the Angels to the playoffs seven times and was the American League Manager of the Year in 2002 and 2009, though the Angels have reached the postseason just once in the last six years. 

With a talented roster led by one of the game’s biggest superstars in Mike Trout and a new general manager coming in, Billy Eppler, another failure to reach the postseason won’t be viewed favorably by the front office or fans. While Scioscia’s track record speaks for itself, missing the postseason next year may take his future with the Angels out of his hands.  

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