Royals win Game 1 of World Series in 14 innings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the 14th inning scored Alcides Escobar with the winning run in the Royals’ 5-4 victory in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night.

The game took 5 hours, 9 minutes and tied the longest World Series game by innings.

Escobar reached on an error by third baseman David Wright to start the inning, then went to third on Ben Zobrist’s single to right field. The Mets’ Bartolo Colon intentionally walked Lorenzo Cain, then Hosmer hit a high fly to right to score Escobar.

Pitcher Chris Young, expected to be Kansas City’s Game 4 starter, threw three hitless innings for the Royals victory.

Alex Gordon had gotten the Royals to extra innings with his solo home run in the ninth inning off closer Jeurys Familia, who had not blown a save since July 30. The blast to straightaway center field saved the Royals a home loss in the opener.

New York had taken a 4-3 lead when Hosmer, a Gold Glove first baseman, let Wilmer Flores’ grounder bounce past him for an error in the eighth inning that allowed Juan Lagares to score from second.

Escobar hit an inside-the-park home run on Matt Harvey’s first pitch, but the Mets pulled ahead 3-1, helped by Curtis Granderson’s tiebreaking home run off Edinson Volquez.

After Kansas City tied it in the sixth, New York went ahead with two outs in the eighth when Lagares singled in a nine-pitch at-bat against Kelvin Herrera, stole second and came around on Flores’ grounder.

Royals’ reliever Ryan Madson struck out David Wright with runners on first and second to end the top of the 11th. The Mets sent it to the 12th when Curtis Granderson made a running grab of Jarrod Dyson’s leadoff line drive and Jonathon Niese struck out Alex Gordon after Salvador Perez’s grounder caromed off third base for a base hit. New York and Kansas City are tied 4-4.

Royals closer Wade Davis was perfect in the ninth, and Mets left-hander Jonathon Niese matched it in the bottom half. New York and Kansas City are tied 4-4 after 10 innings.

Gordon hit a soaring home run to centerfield with one out in the ninth off Mets closer Jeurys Familia, tying the game 4-all and sending a flag-waving crowd into a tizzy.

It was the first blown save for Familia since July 30, and the second homer this postseason for Gordon, the popular left-fielder known more for his glove than his bat.

The Mets took advantage of a rare error by Royals two-time Gold Glove first basemen Eric Hosmer for a 4-3 lead. Late-game defensive replacement Juan Lagares singled on the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Kelvin Herrera with two outs. Lagares stole second and scored when Hosmer failed to scoop Wilmer Flores’ sharp two-hopper for an error.

The Royals charged back to knot the game 3-all with two runs in the sixth inning off Mets ace Matt Harvey, who had retired 11 straight batters before Ben Zobrist’s leadoff double.

Lorenzo Cain followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and Eric Hosmer’s fly ball to center field was deep enough to get Kansas City within 3-2. It was the 24th postseason RBI for Hosmer, breaking a tie with George Brett for the franchise record.

Cain stole second and, after Harvey retired Kendrys Morales, Mike Moustakas poked a two-out single through the right side of the infield to tie the game.

Michael Conforto’s sacrifice fly extends New York’s lead to 3-1 in the sixth.

Lucas Duda’s single – again squeezed between two infielders on the right side – sent Yoenis Cespedes from first to third. Cespedes led off with a single.

Volquez escapes the inning with no further damage.

Curtis Granderson homered to right field on a 1-2 pitch from Edinson Volquez in the fifth, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. Granderson is one of two Mets on the roster with previous World Series experience. He made it in 2006 with Detroit and went 2 for 21 (.095) with seven strikeouts against St. Louis.

Travis d'Arnaud’s infield single tied it for the Mets in the fourth inning.

The rally started with a leadoff single by Daniel Murphy – who else? That was New York’s first hit off Royals starter Edinson Volquez, pitching hours after his father died.

Lucas Duda squeezed a hard-hit single through two infielders on the right side, foiling Kansas City’s defensive shift. That sent Murphy to third and he scored when Mike Moustakas knocked down d'Arnaud’s grounder just inside third base.

The Royals’ Alcides Escobar led off the World Series with an inside-the-park home run off Mets ace Matt Harvey.

Escobar, who has a penchant for swinging at the first pitch, did so again, connecting for the second leadoff inside-the-parker in World Series history. Patsy Dougherty hit the first, in the second game in 1903.

Escobar, a light-hitting shortstop on a postseason roll, hit a 95 mph fastball deep into the left-center gap.

Mets center fielder Yoenis Cespedes and left fielder Conforto gave chase, but the ball ricocheted off Cespedes’ lower right leg and rolled away.

With the ball hugging the wall, Escobar raced around the bases for a home run that gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead before most fans had taken a seat.

Mule Haas of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1929 had the last inside-the-park homer in a World Series game before Escobar.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 12:28 AM with the headline "Royals win Game 1 of World Series in 14 innings."