The Kansas City Royals moved to within a win of their first title in 30 years with a spoiling and late 5-3 victory over the New York Mets in Game 4 on Saturday.
The Mets hope to salvage their season in what will be their final game at Citi Field this year. But the odds are far from their favor—teams with a 3-1 lead are 39-6 in the World Series, according to Anthony DiComo and Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com, and no team has come back from such a deficit in the Fall Classic since the Royals in 1985.
With the first elimination game on tap, here's a preview of Game 5.
Game 5 Info
When: Sunday, Nov. 1
Where: Citi Field
Time: 8:07 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Probable Starters: Edinson Volquez (KC) vs. Matt Harvey (NYM)
Preview
Each team gets back its starters from the marathon Game 1 in which the Royals ousted the Mets 5-4 in 14 innings.
Matt Harvey lasted six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits. He’s now at 208 innings this season, his first back from Tommy John surgery. Any tension over a prospective innings limit that mounted late in the summer is in the rearview, and Harvey is looking forward to the start on a normal four days' rest instead of the eight between his last starts, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:
I think going back to just being on normal rest and kind of having that normal routine is good enough. Obviously I love pitching here at Citi Field. They give me great energy. For me, I think it's a lot of excitement, but yet it's still a baseball game, and I still have to go out and do my job.
Per Brooks Baseball, of his 80 pitches in Game 1, Harvey threw just 30 fastballs, the pitch the high-velocity ace has made his living on. The switch to more off-speed stuff stemmed from a lack of command, catcher Travis d'Arnaud told Hoch.
Harvey believes he’ll benefit from the experience gained in his second go-around against the offensively consistent Royals, per the Mets:
New York manager Terry Collins selected Harvey to open the series due to fatigue worries for Jacob deGrom, who lasted just five innings and allowed four earned runs and an uncharacteristic three walks in Game 2.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports noted this week the Mets’ youthful rotation might be fatigued. After all, not many expected them to be championship-caliber this quickly:
Then again, the answer simply might be that the Harvey and deGrom are tired; the Mets already plan to back off their starters next spring and possibly even in April, knowing how much each pitched in 2015.
If the end is near, so be it. The team’s journey to this point has been nothing short of breathtaking. And its future, while hardly guaranteed, holds even more promise.
Edinson Volquez will take the hill from the opposing dugout, hoping to build upon what’s been his best playoff outing in four starts—three earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts in six innings in Game 1.
He’ll be pitching with a heavy heart after losing his father earlier this week. He was informed of the news after leaving the mound in Game 1, according to Dan Barry of the New York Times.
Volquez returned to the team Saturday after attending his father’s funeral in the Dominican Republic, according to AP Sports:
Royals manager Ned Yost maintained Volquez will remain the Game 5 starter, per ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
"These are huge games. … His dad would want him to be on that mound and helping his team win," Yost said. "And I imagine that Eddie's dad would want the same thing for Eddie."
Each offense has shown signs of both vulnerability and poise—an indication that this series has a chance to go deep.
The Mets' only consecutive losses these playoffs were in Games 1 and 2 earlier this week. Even with a tiring Harvey and against a season’s worth of resiliency from the Royals, New York will bounce back and win its final home game of the season, forcing the series back to Kansas City.
Prediction: Mets 4, Royals 3
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