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The New York Mets took a 3-2 lead into the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2015 World Series last night, but the Kansas City Royals rallied for a three-run inning that lifted them to a 5-3 win and a 3-1 advantage in the 111th Fall Classic. Will the Royals wrap things up tonight and take the best-of-seven game series, or can the Mets force a Game 6 and earn a trip back to Kauffman Stadium.
Tonight in Citi Field, Matt Harvey takes the mound trying to keep the Mets' season alive opposite right-hander Edinson Volquez, who's trying to put devastating personal loss behind him as he takes the hill for his second start of the series.
In their Game 1 matchup, Harvey went six innings, giving up five hits, two walks and three runs, all earned, in what ended up an extra inning loss in which he received no decision.
Volquez went six innings that night as well, giving up six hits, a walk and three earned runs in what ended up a 5-4 win for the Royals.
Harvey was asked before last night's game what if anything he learned from his Game 1 start that he can apply to this evening's outing.
"I think they're a good team at making adjustments," Harvey told reporters, "and throughout the game it seems from at-bat to at-bat they're able to adjust and kind of make different changes.
"It seems like early in their count they're taking a chance to kind of go big fly, and then later as the game goes on they adjust. So as the starting pitcher you've got to be able to adjust with them and kind of pick up on that.
"Noah [Syndergaard] obviously did a great job of that last night, and me and [Jacob deGrom] are going to have another shot at going back out there against these guys.
"We're going to have to make our adjustments, just like Noah did, and kind of watch what he did and build off of what he did. I know we're definitely both excited about getting back out there."
Volquez, whose father passed away before the right-hander took the mound in the series opener, said he was up for the opportunity to clinch a World Series win for the Royals.
"When you win a game like the World Series, it's a dream come true," Volquez told reporters.
"I think everybody feels the same way. I feel very excited and happy to win the game. We have a chance tomorrow to win the whole thing. We'll see what happens tomorrow."
Asked about his emotions going into the outing so soon after his personal loss, Volquez said he wished his father could see it.
"I wish he could be here right now and enjoy every game that I pitch," he said.
"And tomorrow I'm going to be thinking of my mom, and the rest of my family is going to be so happy to see me pitch.
"My mom told me before I got here: 'Go over there and enjoy the game like you always do and be proud. We are proud of you. And be proud and make people proud, more proud than they are. And your dad passed away.'
"And she told me, 'He passed away, but he was really happy to see you pitch in the Big Leagues, your dream.' He was real proud."
Volquez tries to make Kansas City proud(er) tonight. Harvey tries to keep hope alive for the Mets. It all starts at 8:00 PM EDT in Citi Field.
Harvey vs the Royals:
| Royals | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | missG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Rios | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 | |||||||||||
| Lorenzo Cain | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | ||||||||||||
| Alcides Escobar | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .333 | 1.333 | 1.667 | ||||||||||
| Eric Hosmer | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Kendrys Morales | 3 | 3 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Mike Moustakas | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | |||||||||||
| Salvador Perez | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | ||||||||||||
| Ben Zobrist | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .667 | 1.000 | |||||||||||
| Alex Gordon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .500 | .000 | .500 | |||||||||||
| Total | 28 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | .240 | .286 | .400 | .686 | 1 |
Volquez vs the Mets:
| Mets | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | IBB | HBP | GDP | missG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Murphy | 21 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | .389 | .476 | .444 | .921 | ||||||||
| David Wright | 20 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .125 | .250 | .125 | .375 | 1 | ||||||||
| Kelly Johnson | 19 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | .267 | .421 | .333 | .754 | 1 | |||||||
| Michael Cuddyer | 15 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | .364 | .467 | .364 | .830 | 1 | ||||||||
| Curtis Granderson | 15 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | .091 | .333 | .364 | .697 | ||||||||
| Lucas Duda | 14 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .364 | .500 | .455 | .955 | |||||||||
| Juan Uribe | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | .300 | .500 | .400 | .900 | |||||||||
| Travis d'Arnaud | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .143 | .333 | .143 | .476 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Juan Lagares | 8 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .375 | .375 | .500 | .875 | |||||||||
| Yoenis Cespedes | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 | |||||||||||
| Wilmer Flores | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | .167 | .167 | .333 | .500 | |||||||||||
| Jon Niese | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .333 | .500 | .333 | .833 | |||||||||
| Michael Conforto | 3 | 2 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Kirk Nieuwenhuis | 3 | 3 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Bartolo Colon | 2 | 2 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 159 | 129 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 26 | 30 | .256 | .377 | .326 | .703 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |