Royals-Mets, 2015 World Series Game 5: How to watch, matchups, preview
With the Royals one victory away from clinching a championship, right-hander Edinson Volquez continues what must be an intense emotional journey by getting the start for Kansas City.
By
Dave Brown
•
2 min read
After stunning the Mets with an eighth-inning comeback Saturday night, the Kansas City Royals are on the verge of winning the 111th World Series, which would be their first championship in 30 years. Only five times in history, out of 43 opportunites, has a team down three games to one come back to win the World Series. The most recent: the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
Here are the essentials for Game 5 at Citi Field on Sunday night:
World Series Game 5: Royals at Mets (Royals lead best-of-seven series 3-1)
First pitch: 8:15 p.m. ET; TV: Fox
Pitching matchup: Edinson Volquez (3.55 ERA, 18.2 K%, .692 OPS against, 15.4 win probability added) vs. Matt Harvey (2.71 ERA, 24.9 K%, .609 OPS against, 12.8 win probability added)
How both have fared this postseason:
What can you say about Volquez? He only returned from the Dominican Republic on Saturday night, getting to the dugout sometime after the first pitch, after having buried his father Danilo Volquez, who died hours before Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday. Volquez, at the family's request, was not told about his father until after finishing his work against the Mets in Game 1. He allowed three runs and six hits over six innings in a game that took 14 innings to finish.
Volquez's personal journey has been a million times more arduous, but he goes into Game 5 confident as usual:
Edinson Volquez: "I’m pretty sure my dad is going to be proud of me when I pitch tomorrow."
— Chris Fickett (@ChrisFickett) November 1, 2015
After being the focal point (sometimes unwittingly) of so many turning points for the Mets season, Harvey is being given a chance to save it. He was mediocre in Game 1, allowing three runs, five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out two and allowed four line drives. The Mets won't get to Game 6 if he's not better, and that probably means more than two strikeouts. One detail to consider: Harvey having nine days between his previous two starts might have affected his results:
"I felt like I didn't really have the greatest control with my fastball and greatest life. So with a team who's known to hit the fastball well, I think when you lose a little bit of confidence in that, you kind of have to try to pitch a little bit differently.
I don't know if that was the ten days off or not or just a matter of feel. But I'm definitely not worried about going tomorrow."
A good sign for the Mets: Their pitchers struck out nine batters in Game 4. Kansas City pitchers struck out seven Mets, marking the first time in the entire postseason Royals hitters struck out more than their opponents in a game.
Another good sign: Michael Conforto hitting two home runs in Game 4, including one against left-hander Danny Duffy, after going 3 for 17 (all singles) for his career against lefties.
But, even if the Mets win Game 5, the Royals still get to come home for up to two more games, a product of Ned Yost winning the All-Star game as the AL manager.
