After the marathon that was Game One between the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals, just mere hours later, they will reconvene for Game Two in what is shaping up to be a fantastic pitching matchup.
The Mets seemingly had game one all but wrapped up with a one-run lead entering the ninth with Jeurys Familia on the hill who hadn't given up a run all postseason. Alex Gordon wanted to change that, and he did as he blasted a solo homer to straight away center to tie it up at 4-4.
The Royals finally walked off the Mets in the bottom of the 14th after Kansas City loaded the bases and won the game by way of an Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly to give the Royals a 5-4 victory.
Game One was the tied for the longest game and lasted well in to the night (and early morning) ending more than five hours after it started. These teams will have to have a short memory as they get set for Game Two of the 2015 Fall Classic.
For Game Two, the pitching matchup of Jacob deGrom vs Johnny Cueto is sure to be a special one.
Cueto comes into this game off of a rough outing against the Blue Jays in the ALCS in which he allowed eight runs in just 2+ innings of work. Cueto has really struggled in the postseason thus far giving up 14 earned runs in 16 innings pitched.
deGrom on the other hand is looking to snatch a game in Kansas City for the Mets before the series shifts to New York for the middle three games of the series. He has been the opposite of Cueto as he thrown 20 innings in three starts while allowing just four earned runs while striking out 27 batters accumulating at least 7 Ks per start. Going more than six innings, which he has also done in every postseason start, will be a major factor in this game.
deGrom has not faced the Royals this season, but while Johnny Cueto was with the Reds, he got a chance to face the Mets as he went six innings giving up two runs. Offense will most likely be at a premium when these two teams face off once again Wednesday night in Kansas City as the pitching the hitters will be facing won't be easy.
What could ultimately decide this game is how long the starting pitchers can go. After last night's game, both teams exhausted their bullpen options as the Mets used six pitchers while the Royals used seven including game four starter Chris Young. With the off day following game two, the bullpens will have a little bit of time to recuperate, but right now for game two at least, it is a battle of attrition.
FOX will have the TV once again (as long as there aren't technical difficulties) with first pitch scheduled for 8:07 PM EST from Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. If you are in your car or on the go, you can tune into FOX Sports GO or ESPN Radio.
Lineups:
Mets: Granderson - RF, Wright - 3B, Murphy - 2B, Cespedes - LF, Duda - 1B, d'Arnaud - C, Conforto - DH, Flores - SS, Lagares - CF
Royals: Escobar - SS, Zobrist - 2B, Cain - CF, Hosmer - 1B, Morales - DH, Moustakas - 3B, Perez - C, Gordon - LF, Rios - RF