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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Eric Hosmer's sacrifice fly in the 14th inning scored Alcides Escobar with the winning run, and the Kansas City Royals outlasted the New York Mets to take a 5-4 victory Tuesday in Game 1 of the World Series. The Royals forced extra innings on Alex Gordon's solo homer in the bottom of the ninth. Here are five things we know about the World Series heading into Game 2:
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The Kansas City shortstop, who set a major league postseason record by recording a leadoff hit in the first four games of the American League Championship Series, hit the first pitch he saw in the World Series for an inside-the-park home run. "If they throw me a fastball in the strike zone, I'm ready to swing the bat," Escobar said. He recorded the first World Series inside-the-park home run since 1929, when Mule Haas of the Philadelphia Athletics did it against the Chicago Cubs in Game 4. The only other player to lead off a World Series game with an inside-the-park home run was Patsy Dougherty of the Boston Americans in Game 2 of the very first World Series, in 1903 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The only player in major league history to hit home runs in six consecutive postseason games, Murphy saw the streak end Tuesday. However, he singled leading off the third inning and scored the Mets' first run, and he finished the night 2-for-7. "We didn't win a ballgame," Murphy said. "We'll get ready. We'll sleep tonight. We've got Jake (deGrom) going tomorrow. We know how good he's been. Hopefully as an offense, starting with myself, we can have some better at-bats tomorrow. I didn't do a very good job in extra innings. There were a couple of pitches I'd like to have back, the ones in the middle that ended up in the stands (as foul balls)."
They are 0-5 all-time in World Series Game 1s, losing to the Baltimore Orioles (1969), the Oakland A's (1973), the Boston Red Sox (1986) and the New York Yankees (2000) before Tuesday. They are 2-2 all-time in Game 2, having defeated the Orioles 2-1 in 1969 and the Athletics 10-7 in 12 innings in 1973. However, they are not going to give up. "I think we still have our normal confidence," Game 1 starter Matt Harvey said. "We realize it's a seven-game series. There's no panic whatsoever. We're in a good place. We have Jacob (deGrom) tomorrow. We've got to flush this one and start over tomorrow,"
As if Harvey and his mid-90s fastball weren't enough, the Mets' next two starters throw even harder, beginning with right-hander deGrom in Game 2. The Kansas City hitters aren't fazed, though. They struck out fewer times than any other team in baseball this year, by a significant margin. Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas was reluctant to claim an edge. "I don't know if you've ever tried to hit 99 miles per hour. It's not easy," he said. "It's not easy to hit 91 miles per hour when it's sinking off the table. It's not an easy game. It never has been and never will be. It makes it harder with guys throwing 99 with sinkers, sliders and cutters. We're going to have to find ways to score some runs, then do what we do, which is play good defense and pitch the ball well."
Six of the seven teams that swept their way through a seven-game League Championship Series lost the World Series, including the Royals last year. The 1988 Oakland Athletics started the trend in 1988, and they repeated the feat in 1990. The Detroit Tigers (2006 and 2012) also fell victim twice, and they were joined by the 2007 Colorado Rockies. The only team that swept a seven-game LCS and won the World Series was the 1995 Atlanta Braves, who swept the Cincinnati Reds in four games before defeating the Cleveland Indians in a six-game World Series.
