NOTES: RHP Edinson Volquez returned to the Dominican Republic after the death of his father Tuesday. With that on his mind, and with a heavy heart, Volquez still went out and pitched Game One of the World Series.
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Edinson Volquez left with his family today to return to the Dominican Republic.
“Losing a loved one is hard”, he said. “My father was everything to me, and he supported me in everything throughout my career. We have guys on who just keep finding ways to find holes out there”.
The Kansas City Royals produced four runs in the fifth inning against ace Jacob deGrom and beat the Mets 7-1 on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium. He walked three and struck out four.
“We asked it not be reported until we were positive he was aware and when we knew he’d been told, we told Fox they could report it”, the statement said. “But Sal is not putting anything on the ball for the pitcher”, Yost said. It’s a very, very tough thing, especially right before you’re about to go out and pitch.
During the regular season the Royals were last in strikeouts among AL teams with 973. He wasn’t as dominant as in Game 5 against the Astros in the ALDS, but Cueto looked nothing like the overmatched soul against the Blue Jays on the road in the ALCS.
Every inning after that, the veteran with the dreadlock mop would plop his hat onto his head, bounce up the dugout steps, and carve up a Mets lineup powerless to stop him.
Game 2 tonight starts at 7:07 p.m. Johnny Cueto will be on the mound.
The Royals have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series but experts think the Mets are still looking good. When someone loses a family member, that takes priority over everything that happens.
Fox and baseball fans won’t have much time to recover from the theatrics of game 1, however. The Royals forced extra innings on Alex Gordon’s solo homer in the bottom of the ninth.
The Royals won the hard-fought game 5-4 in 14 innings.
“That’s what they brought me here for”, said Cueto, the Royals’ centerpiece acquisition at the trade deadline who had been mostly inconsistent since his arrival.
“He’s going to be missed the next couple of days”. ‘I was standing next to Ned and he told me, he said, “Let’s win this game for Volquez”‘. “He’d already showered and I said, ‘What’s going on?’ He told me and I couldn’t put words to it, man”.
Yost established a contingency plan with assistant coaches Don Wakamatsu and Pedro Grifol in the event Volquez could not pitch. Game 4 starter Chris Young, who lost his father, Charles, to cancer a month ago, would have taken the mound against the Mets.
Young ended up pitching the final three hitless innings, and getting the emotional victory. The last name Mondesi is back once again, though it’s not the person you are probably thinking of.
“We used to play stickball in the street”.
“I always try to stay positive and I try to stay in the mentality where I’m always ready to go”, Lagares said.
As flawless as could be, given the circumstances.
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“After all”, Brown said, “we are teammates, and teammates are there for each other even after the noise of the crowd is gone”.
