As baseball fans strolled into work groggy this morning, at least they can hang their hat on saying they watched the longest Game 1 in World Series history. Last night, the Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Mets with a final score of 5-4 in 14 innings to strike first in this season’s Fall Classic.
It could’ve ended five innings prior, but Mets closer Jeurys Familia gave up a solo home run to Alex Gordon in the bottom of the ninth to blow his first save since July 30th. With the home crowd erupting, Familia moved on to get the remaining batters and force the game into extra innings.
In an unexpected twist, late-innings mini pitching duel between Bartolo Colon and Chris Young ventured into the wee hours of the night. To begin the bottom of the 14th inning, David Wright committed an error that allowed the leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar to reach first. A few batters later, Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly brought in Escobar for the walk off victory and a 1-0 series lead.
Tonight at 8:07 p.m. ET, Game 2 pins the Mets’ ace Jacob deGrom against Johnny Cueto, who had the worst postseason start of his career the last time he took the hill against the Toronto Blue Jays. deGrom is no stranger to pitching away from Citi Field, as the shortstop converted to starting pitcher is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA this postseason with all three starts coming on the road. The Mets are familiar with Cueto for his time spent on the Cincinnati Reds, as the Royals acquired the right-hander at the trade deadline this season.
With the Mets falling behind early, fans are sensing the urgency of each game, especially the ones at Citi Field when the series shifts to New York. According to TiqIQ.com, Mets World Series tickets on the secondary market for Game 3 have an average price of $1,911.20 with a get-in price of $689. For comparison’s sake, Game 2 at Kauffman Stadium tonight has an average ticket price of $834.01 with a get-in price of $341.
Mets fans will have Citi Field rocking on Friday, October 30th, which will be the first World Series game ever held at the stadium. Fans looking to attend the once-in-a-lifetime event can use Hipmunk.com for flight deals to New York City, in addition to looking through Hipmunk’s New York City hotel guide to try to cut the cost of attendance.