After falling 7–1 to Kansas City in Game 2 Wednesday night, the New York Mets find themselves behind 0–2 in the World Series, yet all is not lost in this best-of-seven set for the Mets.
The Fall Classic is a time when every game, every lead, and every at-bat is overly dissected (like what I’m doing now). Every game is seen as a must-win.
That said, this deficit is far from the Mets death knell. Technically, all the Royals did was hold serve at home the last two games. If the Mets do the same over their three-game homestand, they'll just need to get a split in Kansas City (in Games 6 and 7) to bring home the World Series trophy for the first time in 29 years.
It’s that simple. As it is, the series would be discussed much differently right now had they held onto that Game 1 lead.
1. They Should Have Won Game 1
Had the Mets returned to Queens with the series deadlocked at a game apiece—which the Mets were two outs from making happen in Game 1—the prevailing sentiment would be how the Royals were behind the proverbial eight ball. Instead, Alex Gordon smashed a one-out, ninth-inning home run off Mets vaunted closer Jeurys Familia to send the game to extras, where KC eventually won.
But that’s a rarity for Familia.
The Mets would gladly take that situation—Familia on the mound in the ninth with a one-run lead—every time out and they'd win 9 times out of 10.
Familia had 43 saves (in 48 chances) and a 1.85 ERA in the regular season. In the postseason, he'd allowed no runs and just two hits in his 9 2/3 innings before taking the mound in Game 1.
In other words, it won’t happen again.
