By Emma Bowman
Mike Moustakas #8, Ben Zobrist #18, Eric Hosmer #35 and Alcides Escobar #2 of the Kansas City Royals celebrate after defeating the New York Mets by a score of 5-3 to win Game Four of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field on Saturday night. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images hide caption
itoggle caption Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Beating the Mets 5-3, Kansas City Royals came from behind in the eighth inning, placing themselves one win closer to a World Series title. A Royals rally end and a fatal error by second baseman Daniel Murphy gave Kansas City a shot at their first championship title in 30 years.
Michael Conforto’s homer left the bat at 107 mph and traveled 395 feet with a launch angle of 34 degrees, according to @statcast.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) November 1, 2015
Led by Michael Conforto’s two homers, the Rookie-powered Mets were up 3-2 until second baseman Daniel Murphy missed Eric Hosmer’s ground ball, setting off two runs in the eighth against Mets pitchers Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia.
The Mets had endured a disheartening start to the season — first an unusually long Game 1, with a Mets loss The New York Times described as “dispiriting and exhausting,” and then a Johnny Cueto-fueled rout by the Royals in Game 2.
But the Mets turned it around to take home Game 3, 9-3, and they were hoping to keep that momentum going in their return to Citi Field.
In the third inning of Game 4 Saturday night, Michael Conforto obliged, hitting the accelerator with a dramatic solo home run.
For there’s one, two, three outs in an inning at the old baaaaaaall game https://t.co/sqemI9f8Mv (h/t @MLBGIFs) pic.twitter.com/tzrYjEieGb
— SB Nation MLB (@SBNationMLB) November 1, 2015
Then the Mets scored two homers when a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly sent Wilmer Flores to home plate. (The play was filled with gaffes — the Royals’ Alex Rios appeared to lose track of the number of outs, wasting precious moments before throwing home, and Flores seemed to hop off third base a little early. But a review found Flores was safe.)
Mets pitcher Steven Matz kept the Royals from scoring through the first four innings, pitching five strikeouts. In the fifth inning, the Royals made it on the board — but the Mets were encouraged when Conforto followed up with a second homer.
Kansas City’s luck started to turn at the top of the fifth when Alex Gordon hit a single on a line drive for Salvador Perez to score, and the sixth, with Lorenzo Cain hitting a single and Ben Zobrist scoring. Matz was pitching each time.
The Royals will shoot for their first opportunity at the Series title in 30 years on Sunday for Game 5 at New York’s Citi Field, airing on Fox.
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