Rally Royals do it again: Late-inning drama puts KC one win away from Series crown

The beginning always look so harmless. That’s the thing. These Royals, winners again in Game 4 of the World Series, a 5-3 triumph over the Mets, never burst into a room. Their opponents cannot recognize the danger until it is too late.

So when Ben Zobrist chucked his bat toward the Kansas City dugout on Saturday evening, there was little reason for panic at Citi Field. Zobrist represented the tying run after walking with one out in the eighth inning, but the Mets had stifled the Royals all evening. Looming in the bullpen was their fearsome closer, Jeurys Familia. The Mets were five outs away from tying this series.

During the past month, as the Royals have brought themselves one victory away from a title, the team has faced longer odds than this. They make comebacks like this look routine. All they require is an opening.

The door peeked open a crack when Mets reliever Tyler Clippard walked Lorenzo Cain. Into the breach came Familia. Eric Hosmer chopped a grounder toward second base. And the arc of this series bent toward Kansas City.

The baseball slipped beneath the glove of Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy. He played the hero during the first two rounds of these playoffs. Now he served as the goat. The error allowed Zobrist to tie the game. Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez gave the lead with a pair of RBI singles.

There was no crushing blow, no baseball destined to clear the fences. Two walks. Two hits. A pivotal error. Champions can be crowned on the back of such events.

The sequence turned this ballpark, rollicking and rolling with orange towels flapping through the air, into a tomb. The undertaker arrived in the form of Wade Davis. He authored a six-out save to push the Mets to the brink.

Kansas City could spray champagne within 24 hours. The series will hinge on Sunday’s matchup between Edinson Volquez and Mets starter Matt Harvey. Volquez rejoined the Royals on Saturday night after spending several days in the Dominican Republic at his father’s funeral.

Chris Young and Danny Duffy combined to surrender a pair of home runs to rookie outfielder Michael Conforto. A mental lapse by Alex Rios contributed to a Mets run.

Neither starting pitcher provided much distance. Ned Yost removed Chris Young for a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth. Young had given up two runs. An RBI single by Cain removed Mets rookie Steven Matz from the game in the sixth. Matz yielded two runs across five frames.

The lone, lingering artifact on Saturday from Game 3 was the first pitch of the evening, the chin music from Noah Syndergaard toward Alcides Escobar. A day later, both parties dug in their heels. Syndergaard refused to back down from his postgame stance, when he said the pitch was premeditated. Informed of Syndergaard’s comments, Escobar was succinct.

“That’s a stupid comment,” Escobar said.

Ned Yost relayed an interesting anecdote. After the game, Syndergaard cast himself as a 23-year-old John Wayne. Hours earlier, when he came to the plate, he behaved differently. At least, according to Yost’s version of events. Yost said when Syndergaard came to the bat in the third, he catcher Salvador Perez the pitch was an accident.

Yost did not mind Syndergaard throwing inside. The Royals have done that on occasion to Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy during this series. Yost objected to the location of the pitch, up near Escobar’s chin. In a subtle mockery of Syndergaard, Yost offered a cryptic rejoinder.

“We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves,” Yost said. “Let’s go with that.”

But Young did not hunt the heads of his former New York teammates. Instead he yielded two runs in the third due to a home run and a slate of defensive incompetence.

Conforto, supplied the homer on a waist-high, 87-mph fastball. He hammered a towering drive into the second deck of right field on the inning’s first pitch. It was the first hit of the game for the Mets and the third hit of the postseason for Conforto.

Wilmer Flores, the next man up, splashed a single into center. As Matz squared up to bunt, Young spiked a fastball in the dirt. The ball bounced away and Flores took second. Matz bunted him over to third, setting the stage for yet another mental gaffe by a Royal.

The sequence looked preposterous. Curtis Granderson lifted a fly ball into right. Rios settled underneath it. He relaxed his body as the ball reached his glove. When he caught it, he paused for a moment and took two jogging steps toward the dugout. His body conveyed the universal language of a completed inning.

Except there were only two outs. Not three. Rios realized in time to heave the baseball home. There was no play. The Royals challenged the call, suggesting Flores failed to tag up properly and left early. The replay officials upheld the call.

To that point, the Royals could not touch Matz, a 24-year-old lefty pitching in only his ninth major-league game. Matz faced only one batter more than the minimum through four. He struck out five during that time. But his arm slot dropped and his energy lagged as the evening continued.

Kansas City halved the deficit in the fifth. They benefited from a mistake in center by Yoenis Cespedes. He took an inexact route for a liner from Perez, which he kicked into a double. Alex Gordon roped a single into right to plate the run.

With two outs and Gordon at first, Yost decided to gamble. Near the on-deck circle, Young dropped his bat and pulled on a sweatshirt. His night was over. Kendrys Morales would pinch-hit for him.

In a vacuum, the move worked. Morales roped a single up the middle. There were two men on for Escobar, who lined out to right. But now Young was out of the game, and the Royals had used their most dangerous pinch-hitter.

With Young done, Danny Duffy entered the fray. He flung two fastballs for strikes to Conforto. Then he abandoned the heater in favor of his breaking ball. On the third consecutive curveball, Conforto drilled the bender over the right-center fence. Rios scaled the wall but could not retrieve the ball.

The Royals continued to have success against Matz in the sixth. Zobrist tied a record with his eighth double this postseason. Cain rolled a single up the middle to score him. To quell his guests, Mets manager Terry Collins opened up his bullpen.

In came Jon Niese, a southpaw who spent much of the year as a starter. He retired Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. Hosmer stung a ball to center, but it veered right at Cespedes.

Next came burly right-hander Bartolo Colon to face Perez. During a 10-pitch duel, Colon threw only one definitive strike. Perez fouled off four pitches in a row before swinging through a slider for the third out.

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 10:41 PM with the headline "Rally Royals do it again: Late-inning drama puts KC one win away from Series crown."