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Entering the ninth inning I thought I'd be talking about the dominant performance of Matt Harvey and how he led his team to victory and to fight another day. For eight innings, he was absolutely the hero the Mets needed him to be. He looked absolutely dominant and locked in all night long, where after the eight inning "we want Harvey" chants began raining in Queens. In between the eighth and ninth innings, Terry Collins had a tough decision to make in whether to go with his ace or go to his closer. Initially it seemed the decision was made to go to Familia, but Harvey pleaded his case to the skipper and convinced Collins to let him go out and finish what he started. In hindsight, it's easy to say Collins made the wrong call and he should have gone to his closer, Jeurys Familia. In the moment though, Collins made the right call and let Harvey come out for the ninth.
After he convinced his Collins to let him back out, Harvey began the ninth inning by walking Lorenzo Cain. This is where I personally would have lifted Harvey and brought in Familia but Collins chose to let his guy try and work out of trouble. The decision did not work out, as Cain stole second on the first pitch of the next at-bat and then Hosmer singled to drive him in. This is when Collins finally elected to go to Familia, but it would prove to be too late. As Mike Moustakas moved Hosmer over, and then it got interesting. Perez hit a ground ball to third base, where David Wright checked Hosmer and threw to first base. On the throw, Hosmer made a risky decision to run home and see if the Mets could Mets. Lucas Duda had an absolutely terrible throw home that went nowhere near the catcher, Travis d'Arnaud. A good throw probably gets him.
With that score, the Royals tied the game but could not take the lead there and the Mets went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extras. In the top of the 12th inning, Collins took out Jonathan Niese in favor of Addison Reed and the Royals took the lead and never looked back. It ended up being a 5 run inning for the Royals as something just clicked for them in that ninth inning, and they just kept tacking on runs to all but ensure victory. Wade Davis came in the bottom of the 12th and ended the game to deliver the Royals' first championship since 1985. After being dominated by Madison Bumgarner in last year's World Series, the Royals finally got back on top. There we have it, folks. Baseball is over until spring and the Kansas City Royals are the 2015 champions. And now we play the waiting game..pitchers and catchers report in 105 days.
Comments of the Day
There were some questionable plays along with some questionable calls that led to the Mets losing the Series. (Salavador Perez ended up winning the MVP.)
GIF of the Day
Harvey's still trying to figure out where it all went wrong
Honorable Mod Mention
Everyone wins. The season is over, and we'll take a moment to celebrate the great work done all season long. You go, Glen Coco!
Fun Questions
- If you could have any one superhero be real, who would it be?
- Who is your favorite James Bond?
Song of the Day
Batman: The Animated Series Intro by Danny Elfman
It's Batman Week on Pinstripe Alley. Originally "Rise" from The Dark Knight Rises was going to be the SOTD, but Harvey faltering and the Mets losing the series changed things up.
Feel free to use this as your open thread for the day. Baseball is over as the Royals are the World Series champions and Salvador Perez is the World Series MVP. Oh and there's a new episode of Supergirl tonight!