New York Mets Comeback Bid vs. Kansas City Royals Falls Short
The New York Mets saw their comeback bid fall short as the Kansas City Royals took the first game of their World Series rematch on Opening Night.
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The New York Mets kicked off their 2016 season on Opening Night in a weird coincidence, as they were on the road against the Kansas City Royals in a rematch from the 2015 World Series. Unfortunately for the Mets, the nightmares of the World Series reared their ugly head once again as they experienced first hand the small ball attack of the Royals that works so well.
Things got off to an eerily similar start, as Yoenis Cespedes once again made an error in the outfield that the Royals would capitalize on. Mike Moustakas hit a liner to left field that Cespedes misplayed, allowing Moustakas to get on base. Travis d’Arnaud then allowed a passed ball, putting Moustakas on second base. After a walk by Lorenzo Cain, Moustakas was driven in by Eric Hosmer for the first run of the game.
Hosmer had a nice night at the plate for the Royals, as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI. He got the best of Matt Harvey on the evening, as Hosmer singled in every at-bat against the Mets’ Opening Night starter, including a bunt single in his last at-bat.
The Royals were able to small ball the Mets to death tonight for the victory just as they did in the World Series last Fall. They put constant pressure on Harvey throughout the night with a ton of base runners, manufacturing runs without a big hit. The Royals got eight hits off Harvey, all singles, with two walks in his 5 2/3 innings of work. They resulted in four runs, three of which were charged to Harvey as he didn’t have his best stuff tonight; he only recorded two strikeouts as well.
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Harvey’s counterpart, Edinson Volquez, was much sharper as he held the Mets in check. Volquez twirled six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and three walks while striking out five. All of the Mets’ damage came against reliever Joakim Soria, who returned to the Royals this offseason after he left as a free agent during the 2012 offseason.
Soria got crushed by the Mets, as he surrendered all three Royals runs, giving up three hits and two walks in the process. Lucas Duda delivered the big hit, knocking in Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson with an RBI single. Neil Walker would knock in Cespedes on a fielder’s choice, but that is as close as the Mets would get as they would lose the game 4-3.
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The Mets will look to split the two-game series on Tuesday when they send Noah Syndergaard out to the mound against former Met Chris Young. It will be a 4:15 PM ET start as the Royals will have the second part of their World Series celebration pre-game.