The New York Mets were the team that entered the World Series with their championship hopes pinned to their dominant starting pitchers. Alas, it was Johnny Cueto who controlled the Kansas City Royals’ 7-1 victory in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the Fall Classic with a complete-game effort to give his team a commanding 2-0 lead.
Cueto threw 122 pitches and allowed two hits and three walks on the way to his most memorable performance in a Kansas City uniform. It resembled the gem he threw against the Houston Astros in the Divisional Series and was a welcome moment for the pitcher considering he struggled with the Royals during the regular season after they acquired him at the trade deadline.
Molly Knight, author of The Best Team Money Can Buy:The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse, suggested all the past struggles were worth it for Wednesday’s outing:
The Mets only managed two singles from Lucas Duda throughout the entire game. It was the first complete game in the World Series by an American League pitcher since Jack Morris did so for the Minnesota Twins in 1991.
As for the Mets, Jacob deGrom lost his first game of the postseason and allowed four runs, six hits and three walks over five arduous innings. He threw 94 pitches because Kansas City consistently spoiled his best efforts and worked deep into counts.
Eric Hosmer’s two-run single in the fifth inning broke the 1-1 tie, and the Royals never looked back.
Jon Niese gave up three runs out of the Mets bullpen in the bottom of the eighth when the Royals strung four hits and a sacrifice fly together in the span of five batters, which essentially ended the game.
In best-of-seven World Series history, 51 teams have taken a 2-0 lead, and 41 of them have capitalized with a championship. The Royals will look to become No. 42 over the course of the next few days.
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Cueto and the pitching performances were the main focus of conversation in both clubhouses following Kansas City’s victory.
Hosmer praised the pitcher, per Anthony DiComo and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com: "He’s been good here at home, but you could tell he was locked in those first couple innings. When he was missing spots, he wasn’t out over the plate. It was either a hair off in or out. He was electric tonight.
Hosmer offered even more admiration for Cueto, per Erik Boland of Newsday: "That's what an ace does...he pretty much went out there and put the team on his back."
Third baseman Mike Moustakas discussed his team’s approach against deGrom, per DiComo and Flanagan: "He's a great pitcher. We're putting the ball in play all night and just weren't catching any breaks. We kept battling throughout the game, and then caught a break."
While Moustakas focused on deGrom and New York’s pitching, Mets manager Terry Collins noted Cueto’s “change up was good” and that he “effectively pitched in,” per Boland. Collins also summed up Kansas City’s trade deadline approach with Cueto, “He’s good. That’s why they went out and got him.”
It wasn’t just Cueto who beat the Mets. The Kansas City offense gradually wore away at deGrom and the rest of the pitchers, and Collins pointed that out after the game as well, per Boland: “they live up to what people say, they put the ball in play.”
deGrom did not live up to what people say with his lackluster outing, although pitching coach Dan Warthen does not think his ace hit any type of late-season wall, per David Lennon of Newsday: “No, no. I still think we’re going to win this thing.”
deGrom was equally confident after the game, per DiComo: “We've still got to win four. We're going home and we like playing at home. Hopefully we win those three there.”
The Mets still have reason to be confident after winning the National League, but third baseman David Wright acknowledged a stark reality, per Matt Ehalt of the Record: “I think they’ve outplayed us. Simple as that. When you pitch better, hit better, play defense better you’re normally going to win."
Wright reiterated that stance, per Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal: “It’s not so much what we haven’t done. It’s what they’ve done.”
What’s Next?
Game 3 is Friday back in New York, and the Mets will turn to Noah Syndergaard.
Syndergaard has been dynamic throughout the playoffs with a 2.77 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 13 innings. He even came out of the bullpen in a Divisional Series game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and helped the Mets clinch a spot in the National League Championship Series.
Like many of the Mets pitchers this postseason, Syndergaard has been a strikeout machine. The only problem with that is the Royals put the ball in play and struck out a whopping three times Wednesday.
Whichever style of play wins out in the next contest will likely dictate the game’s outcome, although the Mets will have a raucous Citi Field behind them Friday. They are 3-1 there this postseason and must find a way to win two of the next three if they plan on keeping their season alive.
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