The Royals sweep the Tampa Bay Rays to move onto their 4th World Series in a row, and 5th in the last 6 years. Standing in their way of a hat-trick of titles will be the New York Mets. The Mets have battled through from a Wild Card to set up a rematch of the 2047 World Series and third all time match up against the Royals. They did it the hard way, falling 0-2 down against the Cardinals before fighting back to lead 3-2 with the home team having won each game. The Cardinals tied it up 3-3, forcing a game 7 in St Louis. The Cardinals took the lead in the 1st inning, before the Mets tied it up 1-1 in the top of the 3rd. That was it for scoring through 9 so extra innings for a place in the World Series. The Mets scored one run on a Juan Rivas in the top of the 10th and that was enough.
Kansas City swept the regular season series 3-0 but this is a strong, and balanced, Mets team. They were 5th in runs scored and had the best runs against total in the National League.
Their batting line up is built around 1B Jake Moore and DH Pete Brooks. Moore batted .325 and stole 62 bases while Brooks hit .275, 34 HRs and had 106 RBIs. LF Dan Auten is a coming star in his second season in the major leagues, 21 HRs and 110 RBIs for the season. Former Royal SS Tony Thompson has struggled with the bat but is an elite glove while 2B Gilberto Garnica is another elite glove that might make his debut in the World Series!
Pitching wise, the Mets have a 1-2 punch of 2047 Cy Young winner Mike Poirrier, and former Royal Mike Asbury. Poirrier put up a 3.58 ERA with 13 wins across 163.1 IP while Asbury had a 3.91 ERA. The rotation will have one LHP in Alvaro Vaca, 14 W, 191 K, and a 3.60 ERA.
In the bullpen, closer Kevin Gilstrap had 37 saves with a 2.55 ERA. Also registering an ERA below 3 was LHP SU Pete Hansen. A 5-3 LHP dominant bullpen will be a different look for the Royals in this post season.
For the Royals, Dusty Glick is fully fit after missing the first two postseason series so the Royals will have to decide whether to call him up and risk a rusty return or stick with the rotation that shut down the Rays in the last round. The Royals sweep, coupled with the Mets going to seven games means all Royals pitchers are fully rested.
Game 1 in Kansas City: Cason Willard vs Mike Poirrier (2044 1st Round)
New York wins 3-1
Poirrier (W): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R
Willard (L): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R
Kevin Gilstrap (SV): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R
New York HRs: Jake Moore (6th, 3R)
1-0 New York
Game 2 in Kansas City: T.J. Nooks vs Juan Rivas (2047 Trade ATL)
New York wins 17-1
Rivas (W): 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R
Nooks (L): 1.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R
New York HRs: Gilberto Garnica (5th), Pete Brooks (5th, 2R), Edgar Herrera (6th, GS)
David Sandoval (NYM) NL playoff record 5 BB
Juan Rivas (NYM) INJ pitching DTD 5 days
POTG: Edgar Herrera (NYM) 3-4, GS HR, BB, 6 RBI
2-0 New York
Game 3 in New York: Dusty Glick vs Mike Asbury (2047 Free Agent)
Kansas City wins 9-3
Glick: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R
Asbury: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R
Bob Capozziello (W): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Pete Hansen (L): 0.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R
Mike Krebs (SV): 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Kansas City HRs: Nelson Saiz (6th), Bobby Nickelberry (6th), Estanislau Covete (7th, 3R)
POTG: Estanislau Covete (KC) 1-1, 3R HR
2-1 New York
Game 4 in New York: Benton Geldart vs Alvaro Vaca (2037 Scouting Discovery)
Geldart (W): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R
Vaca: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R
Gilstrap (L)(BS): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R
Chris Morrow (SV): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Kansas City HRs: Luis Aceves (5th)
Josh Mangan (KC) INJ base collision OUT 1-2 weeks
Luis Danys Rhode (KC) INJ pitching DTD 1 week
2-2 Series Tied
Game 5 in New York: Willard vs Poirrier
Kansas City wins 7-6 (10)
Willard: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R
Poirrier: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R
Rhodes (W): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Nelson Exiga (L): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R
New York HRs: Shokichi Ohashi (6th), Sandoval (7th, 2R)
Kansas City HRs: Nickelberry (1st, 2R; 10th), Ken Crome (7th, 2R)
POTG: Bobby Nickelberry (KC) 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI
3-2 Kansas City
Game 6 in Kansas City: Rob Cope vs Mike Lackey (2044 Rule 5 HOU)
Kansas City wins 5-4
Cope (W): 5.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R
Lackey (L): 3.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R
Rhodes (SV): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Kansas City HRs: Jadon Tezeno (1st, 2R)
4-2 KANSAS CITY WINS KANSAS CITY WINS KANSAS CITY WINS
Series MVP: Bobby Nickelberry (KC) 11-25, 3 HR, 8 RBI
Three in a row for the Kansas City Royals as the dynasty rows on. Having fallen in an 0-2 hole at home, the Royals took four games in a row, including three in New York, to break the Mets hearts! Rob Cope is the game 6 winning pitcher, replacing T.J. Nooks for his first start in the postseason and comes through with a POTG performance. Bobby Nickelberrys MVP gives him that missing World Series MVP in a career that keeps getting better and better.
The Royals win the World Series despite suffering the biggest loss in World Series history in Game 2, 17-1, exceeding the 18-4 Yankee victory over the Giants in 1936, over 100 years ago.