KANSAS CITY (AP) – Johnny Cueto gave the type of postseason performance the Kansas City Royals had hoped to receive when they acquired him from Cincinnati at the trade deadline.
The Royals own a 2-0 lead in the World Series after Cueto tossed a neat two-hitter in a 7-1 rout of the New York Mets. The right-hander didn’t allow a hit after Lucas Duda’s RBI single gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. Duda had the Mets’ only hits off Cueto, who has been the lone Royals starter to go more than six innings in this postseason.
It’s the first postseason complete game by a Royals hurler since Bret Saberhagen’s five-hitter in an 11-0 pounding of the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1985 World Series. Cueto’s performance came one start after he was torched for eight runs over two innings in Game 3 of the ALCS.
Mets starter and loser Jacob deGrom carried a one-hit shutout into the fifth before the Royals turned a leadoff walk and five singles into a 4-1 lead. DeGrom elected to pitch to Eric Hosmer with first base open and two out in a 1-1 game, and the Royals’ first baseman responded with a two-run single before scoring on a base hit by Mike Moustakas.
DeGrom was reached for four runs and six hits with just two strikeouts in five innings to fall to 3-1 in the postseason.
Hosmer and Alcide) Escobar each had two hits and two RBIs. Escobar capped the Royals’ three-run eighth with an RBI triple that scored Alex Gordon, who hit a run-scoring double earlier in the rally.
The Royals have fanned just four times against Mets starters over the first two games. They’ll next face Noah Syndergaard in Game 3 on Friday in New York. Yordano Ventura will start for Kansas City.
Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez is in the Dominican Republic to attend his father’s funeral, but he plans to rejoin the team when it heads to New York later in the week. Daniel Volquez died of heart failure at age 63 on Tuesday, shortly before Edinson started Game 1 of the World Series.
