The Royals are back in the World Series for a second consecutive year, trying to make up for last year’s loss, which saw them fall, literally, 90 feet short.
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This is the second straight World Series appearance for the Royals. They’ve got a lot of determination. It worked for us last year when people said it wouldn’t and it’s worked for us this year when people said it wouldn’t.
Since then, of course, the Giants have won twice more, and the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox have stepped back to the podium after just a few years away.
The Mets also boast the league’s best post-season hitter in Daniel Murphy, who has seven home runs in his past nine games. Think about the teams in history fitting that description, and the company starts to get rare. The more volatile Johnny Cueto will go in Game 2.
What the two teams have in common is a fierce desire to end decades of frustration by hoisting the championship trophy, with oddsmakers making Kansas City a narrow favorite. The whole world is watching.
“You walk around and talk to the players, they say, ‘Wow, it’s a cool place”. They’ve been through all the hoop-la and jumping through all the hoops after the games start. “I said, ‘Look, I want to be a part of a winning club”. New York survived a five-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, winning 3-2 in the decisive Game 5, and swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. In their place are Hochevar, Kris Medlen, Franklin Morales and Ryan Madson, another reclamation project who was out of the game before Kansas City gave him one last chance. Syndergaard, who is scheduled to pitch in Friday’s Game 3, had the highest mark (97.1 mph).
“And then Ventura in Game 3”. Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz follow at Citi Field. He’s a guy that it doesn’t matter, there’s nothing that’s going to distract him.
“They feed off each other“, Mets third baseman David Wright said.
If rain is heavier, the start of the game will be delayed, commissioner Rob Manfred said Monday.
“I think it’s fun”, Harvey said. The Royals have fresh World Series experience, losing in a thrilling seven-game series last season to San Francisco.
More than an hour later, Davis re-took the mound in the ninth inning of a pulsating, edge-of-your-seat game. “I had a bike that I bought for 10 bucks to get around”.
Perhaps no lineup in baseball matches up better with the Mets’ collection of young flamethrowers than the Royals’. Although notching 21 strikeouts, Ventura has kept the team in position to win throughout the postseason. They are also counting heavily on young pitchers. “I don’t think it’s their job or responsibility to convince their ballplayers or staff to change the way they think”.
My batting average as this site’s resident postseason baseball prognosticator sits at.625.
After the National League Championship Series, Cubs Manager Joe Maddon said Murphy is hitting like Barry Bonds. So when you’re on that kind of run like he is, he’s very hot. He’s seeing the ball well. “That’s going to stay with you for a while”.
“He has been really good”. He’s a great hitter.
You’ve seen or heard the numbers by now: The Royals are good fastball hitters. “We have guys who make contact, even against power pitching”. Reid even stopped by to see manager Ned Yost – or as he calls him, “Skipper Yost” – when the Royals were in spring training.
“They’re a little more used to it than we are”.
Another Mets outfielder, Curtis Granderson, has a jammed thumb, but the team said he will play Tuesday as well.
Meanwhile, the Mets – owned by Michigan alum and big-time booster Fred Wilpon and managed by Midland, Mich., native Terry Collins – are the real stunner here, a team that figured at the start of the season to be no match for the pitching-heavy Washington Nationals. But we do have more matchup possibilities here. In the letter, Raj praised Murphy for being “a great baseball player and a role model for [Raj’s] son”. If you’re a New York Mets or Kansas City Royals fan, take advantage of the moment.
But it’s hard to blame the Mets or Royals for not having almost as many titles. “I like that he goes out and put in the time”. Those guys are exceptional pitchers. We understand what they’re about defensively. They’re a very solid defensive unit. We know what we’re getting ourselves into.
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“Nobody’s going to hit anybody”, Medlen said.
