Duda’s two singles were their only hits – which, juxtaposed with the Royals’ seven runs in their last four innings, made the Mets looked overmatched. Yeah, he remembers the day the Royals got Cueto. Given his extreme ups and downs, it was anybody’s guess how he might fare against the Mets.
Advertisement
“Yeah, we’re not hitting”, manager Terry Collins said Wednesday night after a 7-1 loss to Kansas City dropped them into an 0-2 deficit. “Tonight was everything we expected Johnny to be”. He loves these fans.
Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez said Wednesday that he didn’t know whether he would be ready to play in the World Series once he returns to the US following his father’s funeral in the Dominican Republic. The price was three left-handed pitching prospects, all considered top-flight talents in their farm system, shipped to Cincinnati at the trading deadline for the chance to rent Cueto for the rest of this season.
Cueto gave up two hits, one an infield single and the other a bloop single over an infield shifted the other way. He seemed to melt down in the face of a powerful lineup and a nasty crowd that taunted, “Cue-to!”
They were chanting his name in the ninth after the Royals padded their lead in the eighth. The Mets were outscored 12-5 in the first two games of this World Series.
No sequence typified the Royals’ advantage more than an at-bat by free-swinging Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the fateful fourth inning of Game 2.
Credit where it’s due to the Royals pitching staff. They’re a capable group that becomes especially unsafe once the ball is turned over to their late-inning relievers.
But the game’s complexion changed in the bottom of the fifth inning when the Royals exploded for four runs and knocked Mets starter Jacob deGrom out of the game. The Royals entered the Fall Classic with MLB’s best average against pitches of at least 95 miles per hour, and they’ve had success against New York’s flamethrowers through two games.
Will Noah Syndergaard continue to be a dominating pitcher in the 2015 postseason in Game 3 of the 2015 World Series and get the Mets a much needed win in the series or will he be nervous on the biggest stage he has ever pitched on? He retired the last 18 Astros hitters and now has retired 45 of the last 50 hitters he has faced at home. Cueto struck out four and walked three. That was the first of 15 consecutive outs. Hosmer singled off the mound into centre field for a 3-1 lead, and Kendrys Morales’ singled in another run. He gets that vibe going. The Dodgers and Cubs swung and missed 58 times in De Grom’s first three post-season outings, but he got just three swings and misses against the Royals – his career low.
Advertisement
“Johnny thrives in this environment”, Yost said. “But Johnny was fighting to go back out”. “I expect Eddie to be there and ready to go for Game 5”, he said. “We’re going back home, so hopefully we can win three there”. Sometimes it’s not so bad to be judged by your fans on the basis of what you’ve done for them lately.
