Royals head to New York two games ahead
After a dramatic 14-inning Game One of this 2015 World Series, the Kansas City Royals found themselves ahead of the New York Mets. But Wednesday they will faced one of the best, if not the best, pitcher in the 2015 postseason — Jacob DeGrom. The Royals are one of the best hitting teams in the postseason, but could they match the power of this young starter?
DeGrom has been pitching his best since the beginning of October so if the Royals were going to win, they needed to capitalize on whatever mistakes DeGrom made.
Starting for the Royals was Johnny Cueto. He has had a rocky month in the postseason, with an ERA of 7.88. In his previous start, against the Toronto Blue Jays, Cueto gave up eight earned runs in two innings and now he would face batters Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy.
The edge obviously belonged to New York, but this is the World Series and the players are picking up their games. so it wasn’t a good idea to count the Royals out of this game.
Game Two of this World Series came down to one name: Johnny Cueto. Everyone was wondering if he was up to the task of facing the powerful Mets lineup. They had seen Cueto a lot when he played for the Cincinnati Reds and so the thought was they would have a good idea of how to hit him.
But Wednesdayt the Royals ace went the distance, pitching nine complete innings, giving up one run on two hits and three walks. This could be his best game as a major league pitcher.
On the opposite side was Jacob De Grom, the Mets ace who mastered the Dodgers and Cubs this postseason. It didn’t take long for the Royals hitters to figure him out. In the first inning they started with three long flyballs to the outfield — all outs, but by the fifth inning the Royals had his number, driving in four runs.
That was it for deGrom.
Kansas City put three more runs on the board, while Cueto was holding New York to the one run they scored in the fourth. Six different Royals got RBI’s Wednesday: Alcidas Escobar, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvatore Perez, Alex Rios and Alex Gordon who had two.
But it was Johnny Cueto who really shined for Kansas City.
Game Three will be at Citi Field in Queens, New York on Friday. The Mets return home down two games in this series, but they will have Noah Syndergaard taking the mound. For the Royals it will be Yordano Ventura.
Below are my videos for Games One and Two.
(All photos by Claudia Gestro, unless otherwise noted.)
Claudia is of Peruvian and Italian descent, having been born in a small town, in the North of Peru, South America. She was raised by her grandmother from an early age, living in poverty until Claudia’s mother brought her to America. She landed in Miami, FL and started her new life, playing high school basketball and eventually becoming a United States citizen. Claudia completed her education at Florida International University with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and became a model to supplement her income. Since graduating from FIU Claudia has worked with many of the Spanish Language broadcasting companies, including Telemundo, Univision and most recently Spanish Language channels on SiriusXM satellite radio and 93.9 FM Exitos in Los Angeles. Just so you know where her loyalty lies: Go Lakers!