The New York Mets find themselves in a bit of a hole as the Kansas City Royals have stormed out to a 2-0 series lead. With the series shifting to Citi Field for game three of the World Series, the Mets have some work to do.

After game one that slipped from their grasp and game two where they couldn't get anything going against Johnny Cueto, the Mets need something to got their way if they plan on getting back in this series. They almost had a win in game one, but they couldn't quite hold it and then in game two, could only muster one run before losing 7-1.

The Royals on the other hand, have been an incredible team to watch thus far. The pitching has been there in games one and two along with the bats. They have no doubt looked like the better team in this series. There is still a lot of work left to be done, but if they keep this up, they'll be in good shape.

After the Mets exhausted their bullpen in the first two games in this series, a day off Thursday was much needed to rest arms and just regroup as this team has not been the same team we have seen in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers and in the NLCS against the Chicago Cubs.

Game three brings us another good pitching matchup as the Mets send Noah Syndergaard to the hill to face Yordano Ventura of the Royals. Both can light up radar guns, but for the Royals, the velocity from this Mets pitching staff hasn't been an issue.

Jacob deGrom is known for getting a ton of swings and misses, as he tallied 58 swings and misses in his previous postseason starts. In game two, deGrom only tallied three swings and misses, which is a career-low. Kansas City was resilient at the plate and didn't make things easy for deGrom as they racked up 23 total foul balls.

As for Syndergaard though, he's been excellent in this postseason. He is 1-1, but has given just four runs in 13 innings pitched while tallying an absurd 20 strikeouts. Thor has been on his game, but it will be interesting to see how he reacts to a Royals team that doesn't strikeout all that often.

Ventura on the other hand just needs to get this game to the bullpen with his team in the game. He has to understand that most of the pressure is on the Mets in this game and if he locates pitches and dictates what New York's offense is able to do, the Royals will be in good shape.

Mets players may not say that game three is a must win, but if they don't want to have their backs up against the wall this quickly in the series, game three could be considered "next to" a must win.

“Right now we can’t think about the hole that we’re in. We’ve got to concentrate on one at a time,” said team captain David Wright. “It’ll be nice to get to our park, our house – I’m sure the fans are going to be going crazy – and utilize that home field advantage because we have done it all year.”

Using that home field advantage definitely will be important, but it won't be anything new for this Mets team that has won 49 games at home in Citi Field.

Game three gets underway on FOX with first pitch slated for around 8:07 p.m. EST Friday night.

Lineups:

New York Mets: 1. Granderson (RF), 2. Wright (3B), 3. Murphy (2B), 4. Cespedes (CF), 5. Duda (1B), 6. d'Arnaud (C), 7. Conforto (LF), 8. Flores (SS), 9. Syndergaard (P)

Kansas City Royals: 1. Escobar (SS), 2. Zobrist (2B), 3. Cain (CF), 4. Hosmer (1B), 5. Moustakas (3B), 6. Perez (C), 7. Gordon (LF), 8. Rios (RF), 9. Ventura (P)