Royals: Looking back on 2015 World Series Game 2

After a Game 1 win, the Kansas City Royals look to keep their bats hot against the New York Mets in Game 2 of the World Series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Kansas City Royals kicked off the 2015 World Series in the best possible way, with a Game 1 win at Kauffman Stadium. Not only did they beat the Mets, but they kept fans on the edge of their seats for the entire 5 hours of the 14-inning game. Royals fans couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Luckily for Kansas City, after all the Game 1 excitement there would be more, as Game 2 was to be played the next night back at Kauffman. Game 2 was incredibly important for the Royals. They had a chance to get ahead in the series 2-0, and they the advantage of their fans behind them, continuing the excitement from Game 1.

Taking the mound for the Kanas City in Game 2 was Johnny Cueto. Cueto spent half the season with the Royals after coming over from the Reds through a trade. In his time at Kansas City, Cueto went 4-7 and held an ERA of 4.76. Though he had struggled with the Royals, he had put together some decent games, and had done well in the postseason.

For the Mets, Jacob deGrom got the start. deGrom had put together a good season, going 14-8 with an ERA of 2.54. The Royals knew deGrom could pose a challenge and they would have to try to rough him up early. The Royals also needed a strong game from Cueto, having gone deep to stay alive in 14 innings the previous night.

On October 28, 2015, in front of a home crowd of 40,410 fans, the Kansas City Royals took the field for Game 2 of the World Series.

For the Kansas City Royals, Game 2 of the World Series started quiet, with outstanding pitching from Johnny Cueto.

The first inning got off to a quiet start. For the Kansas City Royals, Johnny Cueto set the tone for the evening, sitting the first three batters he faced. deGrom answered, retiring the three Royals bats he saw as well. The second inning was a similar story. Other than a single from Lucas Duda, Cueto quickly recorded three outs on three batters, the last being a double play. deGrom again retired the three Royals he faced in order.

The game continued as a pitchers battle into the third inning. Cueto retired three in a row to begin the third, and deGrom recorded three outs, plus gave up a walk to Alex Gordon. In the fourth inning, both pitchers started to show some fatigue.

Cueto started the fourth with a walk to Curtis Granderson. After recording the first out, he followed up with another walk to Daniel Murphy. With two outs, Duda again stepped to the plate and knocked a single to left, allowing Murphy in to score. Cueto pulled it together and got the last out, finishing the third without further damage.

deGrom also started to see some issues in the fourth. Ben Zobrist started the inning by reaching first on an error. deGrom recorded an out but followed up with a single to center from Eric Hosmer. With two outs, deGrom continued to struggle walking Mike Moustakas. Unfortunately for the Royals, even with the bases loaded, they were unable to get on the board and deGrom recorded the final out.

Behind amazing pitching from Cueto, the Kansas City Royals looked to extend their World Series lead to 2-0.

In the top of the eighth, the Kansas City Royals decided to continue pitching Cueto. Cueto again showed up strong, quickly pitching all three Mets batters into outs. In the bottom of the eighth, the Royals looked to add a little more cushion to their lead.

To lead off the inning, Moustakas singled off Niese, followed by a double from Salvador Perez. With two on base, Gordon doubled to the shortstop, allowing Moustakas to score, and Perez to advance to third. New York then brought in Addison Reed to pitch for Niese. Reed was not able to stop the Royals bats though.

The Royals brought in speedy Paulo Orlando to hit for Rios. Orlando hit a sacrifice fly to left with one out, allowing Perez to score, and Gordon to advance to third. Escobar continued the assault, sending a triple to center to bring Gordon home for another run. The Mets, wanting to end the inning, brought in Sean Gilmartin to replace Reed. Gilmartin recorded the final two outs, but New York left the eighth inning with the Royals up 7-1.

In the top of the ninth, the Royals could see the end and had a firm grasp on the lead. With an opportunity to let their bullpen rest available, the Royals sent Cueto back in to finish the game. Other than a walk to Daniel Murphy, Cueto sealed a complete game with 122 pitches and only one earned run. Game 2 was over and the Royals came out on top, 7-1.

With the Kansas City Royals now comfortably ahead in the World Series 2-0, they would have to leave the comfort of Kauffman Stadium and head to New York to play Game 3 at Citi Field where the Royals Yordano Ventura will face off against the Mets Noah Syndergaard.