2015 World Series Game 5
Kansas City Royals at New York Mets
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The Royals had a big three run eighth inning in Game 4 to take a three games to one lead over the Mets. Edinson Volquez got the start for the Royals, going up against Matt Harvey of the Mets. This was a rematch of Game 1, when both starters went six innings and gave up three runs. After the start, Volquez learned that his father had passed away earlier in the day. He had left the team for obvious reasons, and he was back for Game 4. He was trying to get the win to end the World Series. Harvey was looking to keep his team in it and send the Series back to Kansas City. He was coming in pitching on regular rest since Game 1 of the NLCS, when he went seven and two-thirds giving up just two runs on four hits and striking out nine.
Harvey started out by striking out Alcides Escobar. Ben Zobrist took Yoenis Cespedes to the warning track for the second out. Lorenzo Cain blooped a base hit over the head of Wilmer Flores. Cain stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Eric Hosmer. Hosmer fouled off a tough two-strike pitch, but struck out on a high fastball and Cain was stranded at second.
Mets Strike First
Curtis Granderson led off the bottom of the first with a home run to center field on an 0-2 changeup. Volquez shook that off and struck out David Wright and Daniel Murphy before Cespedes grounded out to third to end the inning with the Mets leading 1-0.
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Mike Moustakas reached on an error by Wright to lead off the second. Perez hit into a fielder’s choice and Moustakas was out at second. Alex Gordon hit the first pitch he saw to Cespedes in center for the second out. Alex Rios worked a full count before grounding out to short to end the inning.
Lucas Duda drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second. Travis d’Arnaud chopped one up the middle that Zobrist was able to field right at the bag to start a double play. Michael Conforto struck out on a knuckle curve for the third out.
Volquez singled to right for the Royals’ second hit of the game. It marked the first time that a Royal pitcher got a hit in the World Series. That was wiped out when Escobar grounded into a double play. Zobrist popped out to right to end the top of the third.
Harvey Was Cruising
Harvey was on tonight. He struck out the side in the fourth inning, getting Cain, Hosmer, and Moustakas swinging. After four innings, Harvey had only given up two hits while striking out five.
Volquez worked around a one-out walk, thanks to a double play started by Moustakas. Volquez was matching Harvey after four innings, giving up just one hit (the home run by Granderson) and striking out five.
The Mets threatened in the bottom of the sixth. Granderson drew a leadoff walk and Wright hit a single to left field to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Wright’s hit was the first for the Mets since Granderson led off the game with a home run. Murphy grounded one to first that hit off of Hosmer’s glove for an error to load the bases with nobody out and Cespedes coming up. Cespedes fouled a ball off his knee that ended up being fielded by Moustakas.
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Mets Tack One On
The trainers came out and worked on getting some flexibility in his knee. Cespedes stayed in for his at-bat, which ended up being a pop up to shortstop. Duda drove in Granderson with a sacrifice fly to center field, and the Mets had runners at first and third with two outs. Volquez got out of the inning allowing only one run when d’Arnaud grounded out to third.
Juan Lagares came in to play center field for Cespedes in the seventh inning. Moustakas led off the inning with a ground ball into right field for a base hit. Perez popped out to third for the first out of the inning. Gordon hit one deep to right-center field, but Lagares caught it at the warning track. Rios grounded out to third, and Harvey was through seven shutout innings.
Kelvin Herrera came in to pitch for the Royals in a double switch, Paulo Orlando going into right to replace Rios. Michael Conforto greeted Herrera with a base hit to right field, but he was erased by a double play by Flores. Harvey grounded out to third to end the inning.
Harvey came out in the eighth and got Orlando to fly out to right for the first out. Escobar popped out to shortstop for out number two. Zobrist hit a line drive right at Lagares, and Harvey got out of the eighth on just nine pitches.
Herrera stayed in the game and got Granderson to go down swinging for the first out, the got Wright swinging for the second out. Herrera got Murphy looking to strike out the side.
Harvey Goes For Complete Game
The Royals were down to their last three outs, down 2-0, facing Harvey once again. Cain was the first Royal to get a crack at Harvey in the ninth, and he drew a walk. Cain stole second, which took away the double play. Hosmer hit the ball over Conforto’s head in left for an RBI double, ending Harvey’s night.
Royals Tie It Up
Jeurys Familia came in to face Moustakas with a runner on second and nobody out. Moustakas grounded out to the right side, moving Hosmer to third with one out. Perez hit it to a drawn in infield, Wright looked Hosmer back to third and threw it to first. Once Wright threw it, Hosmer took off for home and the throw was wide.
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The Royals had tied the game in the ninth. Gordon grounded out to the pitcher, but the Royals were still in the game. Harvey finished with eight innings pitched, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out nine.
Extra Innings, Again
Herrera came out to pitch his third inning. Lagares lined out to Escobar to lead off the ninth. Duda hit one to left field that took Gordon to the wall for the second out. The game went to extra innings after d’Arnaud flied out to left field to end the ninth. This marked the ninth time that a World Series had two or more games go into extra innings.
Familia came out to pitch in the 10th to face Kendrys Morales, who was pinch hitting for Herrera, and got him swinging for the first out. Orlando bounced one back to the pitcher for the second out. Escobar struck out to end the top of the 10th.
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Luke Hochevar came in to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Conforto led off with a fly ball out to right field. Flores grounded out to shortstop for the second out. Kelly Johnson came in to pinch hit for Familia as the Mets’ last chance at winning it in 10, but he popped it up and Hosmer caught it in foul territory.
On To The 11th
Jon Niese came in for Familia in the 11th and got Zobrist to ground out to third. Cain flied out to right for the second out. Hosmer hit a scorcher past a diving Duda for a two-out single. Hosmer stole second, but Moustakas flew out to left to end the inning.
Hochevar got Granderson to pop out to short to lead off the bottom of the 11th. Wright hit a hard line drive, but it was right at Orlando. Murphy drew a two-out walk to bring up Lagares. Lagares grounded out to first to send the game into the 12th inning.
Royals Break Out
Addison Reed came in to pitch for the Mets. Perez hit a single down the right field line to lead off the 12th. Jarrod Dyson came in to run for Perez. Dyson stole second to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Gordon hit the ball to the right side to move Dyson over to third with one out. Christian Colon came in to hit in the pitcher’s spot, and he ripped a single to left that drove in Dyson to give the Royals the lead.
Orlando hit the ball to second and Murphy was not able to field it and everybody was safe. Escobar followed that with a double down the left field line that scored Orlando and put runners at second and third with one out. The Mets chose to walk Zobrist to set up a double play, and with that, the Mets went with Bartolo Colon. Cain greeted him with a bases clearing double to give the Royals a 7-2 lead. Hosmer grounded out to second to move Cain to third, but Moustakas flew out to left field for the third out.
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Davis Closes It Out
The Mets were down to their last three outs, and they were down by five runs. Wade Davis came in to close out the game. He struck out Duda on four pitches for the first out. Davis got d’Arnaud swinging at a 3-2 pitch for the second out. Conforto stalled the celebration by spanking the ball into left field. Flores was called out on strikes for the final out, and the Royals are the 2015 World Series Champions.
Player of the Game: Eric Hosmer
Hosmer had two hits in six at bats with an RBI and run scored. His RBI and run both happened in the ninth inning, which sent the game into extra innings. The Royals scored five runs in the 12th inning to win the game, but without Hosmer’s contributions, the game would not have gone to the 12th.
World Series Champions
The Kansas City Royals were unbelievable in this post season. They came back from a multiple run deficit to win seven times in this post season, an MLB record. They also played in the most extra innings in one World Series (8) and they scored the most runs in an extra inning in the World Series (5). This is the Royals’ first World Series win since George Brett led the Royals to a seven game win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
World Series MVP: Salvador Perez
Perez hit .364 in the World Series, with an RBI and a run scored. He was a key figure in the Game 4 win, going three for four with his RBI and run scored, and also throwing out Granderson to end the fifth inning. Perez handled the pitching staff well, especially Volquez, who lost his father before Game 1.