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New York Mets: Golden opportunity blown in Game One of 2015 World Series

By Israel Gonzalez

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For the New York Mets, game one of the 2015 World Series wasn’t supposed to end as it did. But for these Mets, nothing has gone the way that it was supposed to go. As was the case with the 2000 version of the Mets, a team that also made a World Series appearance, this team has defied expectations.

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These aren’t the 2000 New York Mets, though, and the 2015 Kansas City Royals aren’t the 2000 New York Yankees. Against the Yankees in 2000, the Mets had to worry about the long ball. Against these Royals, the Mets have to worry about being small-balled to death and trying to get a lead before the seventh inning.

For a while in game one, the Mets were doing just that. Through 5 ½ innings, the Mets had a 3-1 lead, with Matt Harvey on the mound. Statistics show that the Royals aren’t anywhere near as effective when trailing after six as they are when leading after six. Surely the Mets were on their way to a huge game one win.

Only they weren’t.

In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Matt Harvey came undone, allowing two runs to score. And just like that the game was tied going into the seventh.

The Mets, however, kept their composure and were rewarded for their patience. In the eighth inning, Juan Lagares scored on an Eric Hosmer error. This gave the Mets a 4-3 lead; a lead they took into the bottom of the ninth.

And then things unraveled.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Alex Gordon (who only hit 15 homeruns this season) blasted a 442-foot homerun to centerfield.

The Mets would then lose as only the Mets could lose, on a 14th inning sacrifice fly. In the process, they contributed to a rare instance in which an opponent of the Kansas City Royals lost a game to them when leading heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Last night the Mets partied like it was 2000. Let me explain. In game one of the 2000 World Series, the Mets also blew a ninth-inning lead and would go on to lose in extra innings.

What is particularly shocking is that Mets closer, Jeurys Familia, blew a save; something he hadn’t done since July. Shocking is only the beginning of the problems. The Mets are surely devastated that they lost despite giving a late innings lead to one of the best closers in baseball.

“This is a game everyone knows when you make a mistake you’re going to pay for it,” said Familia to the New York Post. “But tomorrow is another day.”

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That’s the thing about these Royals, if you let them linger, they’ll make you pay. It might be in the seventh inning. It might be in the ninth inning. It might even be in the 14th inning. One thing is certain, you don’t want them hanging around. Let them hang around and there won’t be another day.

Manager Terry Collins, Sporting News’ 2015 National League Manager of the Year, hinted as much after the game.

“They’re a team that’s never down and out,” said Collins to the New York Daily News. “We have to do a better job of putting them away.”

If the Mets can’t put the Royals away, particularly by the seventh inning, they’ll be down 2-0 after tonight.

Shades of the 2000 World Series indeed.

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