KANSAS CITY (AP) – In the longest World Series Game 1 ever, the Kansas City Royals outlasted the New York Mets 5-4 in 14 innings to gain the early edge in the 111th Fall Classic.
Eric Hosmer (HAHS’-mur) hit a sacrifice fly that scored Alcides Escobar from third base to end it and give the Royals a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Series. The game took 5 hours, 9 minutes. The losing pitcher was 42-year-old Bartolo Colon, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 12th before running out of luck in the 14th inning.
The game had drama galore, and just about a bit of everything a baseball fan would want — especially a Royals fan.
Kansas City forced extra innings when Alex Gordon homered off Mets closer Jeurys Familia with one out in the ninth to tie it. Familia had not blown a save since July 30 before Gordon sent a 97 mph pitch over the center field fence.
New York had taken a 4-3 lead when Gold Glove first baseman Hosmer let Wilmer Flores’ grounder bounce past him for an error in the eighth inning that allowed Juan Lagares to score from second.
Escobar hit an inside-the-park home run on Matt Harvey’s first pitch, but the Mets pulled ahead 3-1, helped by Curtis Granderson’s tiebreaking home run off Edinson Volquez. That was the first inside-the-park World Series home run since Mule Haas of the old Philadelphia Athletics did it against the Chicago Cubs in 1929.
Game 2 is Wednesday night — Jacob deGrom for the Mets against Johnny Cueto.
