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In order to keep breathing, the New York Mets needed Noah Syndergaard.

In about the worst possible way imaginable before the very real threat of elimination would set in, the Mets needed Noah Syndergaard.

So, the 23-year-old fireballer with all of 150 major league innings to his name and a baby face peeking from his flowing hair gave the guys from Queens what they needed—a pitching performance good enough to win, regardless of what it looked like and no matter what route he took to the eventual destination.

In the face of virtual elimination, with his Mets down two games to none in the best-of-seven World Series, Syndergaard threw six innings, peppered with seven hits and a couple of walks. He allowed three runs—one on a passed ball—struck out six and got nearly as many swings-and-misses in his time (16) as there have been from all other starting pitchers combined in these three games (19). He also retired 13 of the last 16 batters he faced before he was done.

When the game ended, the Mets repaid their pitcher with gobs of run support, and they all left Citi Field with a 9-3 victory Friday night, pulling a little closer in this championship series against the Kansas City Royals, who still hold a 2-1 series advantage.

“He delivered,” Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters in his postgame press conference. “He came through exactly how we expected him to.”

Syndergaard did not start out dropping the hammer of Thor on everyone who stepped into the box, though. Early on, there was a twinge of panic. 

After his first pitch flew up and in to Royals leadoff man Alcides Escobar—which many of the Royals did not approve of, though they were met with defiance—Syndergaard gave up a double and single to Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain, respectively, and Zobrist scored on a fielder’s choice for a quick 1-0 lead.

After Mets captain David Wright homered to give the Mets the lead in the bottom of the first, Syndergaard coughed up another run by allowing three consecutive singles and a third score on a passed ball. His pitches were hard, but it did not stop the Royals from getting enough wood on them to make things seem like Syndergaard would not be long for Game 3, and that the Mets would have to cover too many innings with their bullpen in the first game of three in a row at home.

Before Syndergaard got out of that two-run second inning, Collins had Jon Niese warming in the bullpen, because even he knew the leash had to be short at the risk of finding his club one win away from watching the Royals celebrate on New York’s own diamond. 

“We swung the bat really good against him in the first two innings,” Royals manager Ned Yost told reporters in his postgame press conference. “If you’re going to get a really good pitcher, you better get him early. And we put some runs on the board against him early, but he settled in. He settled down and started throwing his secondary stuff for strikes and spotting his fastball better.”

Once that happened, Syndergaard was masterful. He struck out five in his next four innings, and the next baserunner did not come until there were two outs in the sixth inning. A single and a couple of walks loaded the bases for Kansas City, but on his 104th pitch, a slider, Syndergaard got Alex Rios to ground out to strand all three runners.

Should the Mets come back to win this seres, Noah Syndergaard retiring Alex Rios with the bases loaded is the moment it all started.

— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) October 31, 2015

Syndergaard was not dominant Friday night, except for a stretch of 12 consecutive hitters from the end of the second through two outs in the sixth. In fact, he had the same bottom-line results as Game 1 starter Matt Harvey, though one start was praised, while the other was tamped down.

Why? Because the Mets scored for Thor the way they could not for the Dark Knight. In Game 1, the Mets scored three runs while Harvey was in the game, and he left with it tied. In Game 3, Syndergaard got all nine runs and left (officially) with a six-run lead.

Harvey and Syndergaard had the same end result, three ER in six IP. One was considered a disappointment, one is widely being lauded.

— Peter Botte (@PeterBotte) October 31, 2015

Matt Harvey gave up 3 runs in 6 innings. Noah Syndergaard gave up 3 runs in 6 innings. The difference in perception is entirely run support.

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) October 31, 2015

It does not matter how the Mets won, or who is celebrated in victory. Not now. Not when the Game 3 stakes were either get back into the series or have all hope sucked from your team. In that kind of circumstance, all that matters is the final score. And with that in play, Syndergaard did exactly what he had to for the Mets to get the win.

Now, they are in decent shape. They still trail by a game, but they are home with Steven Matz (2.58 ERA in eight major league starts, including the postseason) pitching against Kansas City’s Chris Young, who had a 4.52 FIP in 123.1 innings this season. Win that game, and things go from seemingly impossible for the Mets to somewhat favorable with co-aces Harvey and Jacob deGrom throwing the next two.

But before anyone could consider those possibilities, the Mets needed to keep breathing. And Noah Syndergaard, the young man with the superhero nickname, allowed them to do so.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired first-hand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard told reporters he had “a few tricks” up his sleeve prior to his start in Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night, and it turned out he wasn’t kidding. 

Before the Mets exploded for a 9-3 win, Syndergaard opened the evening by throwing high and inside against Royals leadoff batter Alcides Escobar in the top of the first inning. 

He admitted that was on purpose.  

“My intent was to make him uncomfortable,” Syndergaard said after allowing three runs and striking out six Kansas City batters in six innings, per Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller.

However, Syndergaard made it clear he didn’t toss the pitch with violent motives.

“I certainly wasn’t trying to hit the guy,” he added, per Miller. “I didn’t want him to get too comfortable.”

Escobar has become renowned for swinging at first pitches throughout the postseason, and Syndergaard evidently wanted to dissuade him from doing so Friday night. According to MLB.com’s Mike Petriello, Escobar had swung at the first pitch in all 13 of his leadoff at-bats in the 2015 playoffs entering Game 3.

“We will send a message back. Don’t worry,” Escobar said, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

“If they have a problem with me throwing inside, then they can meet me at 60 feet, six inches away,” Syndergaard added, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. 

The Royals didn’t view the things through a similar prism, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star:

“I thought it was weak,” Royals outfielder Alex Rios said, according to McCullough. “Very weak. I thought it was unprofessional.” 

First baseman Eric Hosmer echoed his teammates’ thoughts. 

“Any time a guy throws at one of your teammates heads, it’s not going to go over very easy,” Hosmer said, according to the Kansas City Star‘s Vahe Gregorian. “Of course we’re going to be angry. Of course we’re going to be upset. But we’ll find a way to get back at him.”

However, it could be a while until Thor takes the mound again. The Mets have yet to announce probable starters beyond Game 4, so unless Syndergaard is thrust into an emergency relief appearance, his return to the mound may be dictated by the Mets’ ability to force a Game 6 or Game 7. 

As Miller explained, the starters for Saturday’s Game 4 aren’t exactly the retaliatory type: 

Either way, the Royals need to respond with a more complete outing. This postseason, Kansas City pitchers have posted a 7.02 ERA on the road. According to Fox Sports, that mark has contributed to a 2-4 road record and an opponents’ batting average of .276. 

Chris Young will try to rectify those problems Saturday, but the Mets have to be feeling confident following their offensive outburst in Game 3. 

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On Friday night at Citi Field, David Wright‘s bat woke up. Then the rest of the New York Mets offense stirred from its slumber. And just like that, we have ourselves a World Series.

Yes, the Kansas City Royals still hold a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven Fall Classic. But after cruising to a 9-3 victory in Game 3 behind a strong six-inning start from Noah Syndergaard and, most essentially, a barrage of knocks, the Amazins are alive and kicking.

A lineup that collected just one extra-base hit in Games 1 and 2 in Kansas City and looked downright moribund in the process erupted for 12 hits, including a pair of home runs.

The first and biggest blast came in the bottom of the first, when Wright dug in for his first-ever Fall Classic at-bat in front of the hometown faithful and promptly launched a crackling Yordano Ventura fastball to deep left field.

The two-run bomb was the first Wright has hit since Sept. 26. In the sixth, he singled with the bases loaded to drive in another pair of runs. That more than doubled his RBI total for the 2015 postseason:

Wright wasn’t the only hitter who left his mark on Game 3, and we’ll get to that in a moment. First, though, let’s pause to appreciate what the guy they call the Captain accomplished on a chilly evening in Queens and how unlikely it was.

Oh, sure, Wright is a seven-time All-Star, the longest-tenured Met and still arguably the face of the franchise.

But he also played in just 38 regular-season games after landing on the disabled list with a strained hamstring in April, and then he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, which ended up being about as bad as it sounds.

The mere fact the 32-year-old third baseman returned to the everyday lineup down the stretch and into October was a symbolic boost for New York.

Entering play Friday, however, Wright had done little at the plate. He was just 7-for-41 with 14 strikeouts in the postseason and looked frequently overmatched.

“I’ve been better,” Wright said during the National League Championship Series, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. “When you’re not feeling great at the plate, you try to work some walks and do other things in the game well. Hopefully the hits come and I can join in offensively.”

On Friday, he did more than join. He led, and others followed.

Like Curtis Granderson, who launched a two-run dinger of his own into the right-field corner in the bottom of the third, putting the Mets back up 4-3. They would tack on five more runs, with Michael Conforto and Juan Uribe (returning from an extended injury absence) chipping in RBI base hits and Yoenis Cespedes notching a sac fly.

Even Syndergaard got in on the offensive act, rapping out a single ahead of Granderson’s big fly.

The Royals’ arms mostly baffled the Mets in Missouri. Now, in the Big Apple, the worm has turned.

“That pitching staff over there…makes it difficult for you to get things going,” Granderson told Fox’s Erin Andrews immediately after Game 3. “[We] tried to put pressure on them, get good at-bats, take it one pitch at a time. No matter what you’re doing up there in that batter’s box, you can’t win the game on [one] swing.”

Technically you can; that’s what walk-offs are for. But his point is taken. The Mets needed a balanced attack and to prove the Royals—whose insane ability to put wood on the ball was highlighted by Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller—aren’t the only swingers in this series.

In fact, New York swiped a page from Kansas City’s playbook, as the New York Post‘s Joel Sherman noted mid-game:

Mostly, the Mets humbled a Royals squad that was looking more and more like an unstoppable force. They exposed Ventura, who had electric stuff at times but couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning.

Looking ahead to Game 4, they’ll face right-hander Chris Young, who threw 53 pitches in relief in Game 1 on Tuesday. So they’ll have another chance, in theory, to chase K.C.’s starter early and get to the Royals’ middle-relief arms, who also faltered Friday.

Of course, this being the postseason, things can spin on a dime. Just because the Mets were scary good Friday doesn’t mean they’ll be the same on Halloween and beyond. Wright’s outburst might have been a one-time deal rather than the beginning of a trend. Kansas City has proved it can shift quickly and relentlessly into shutdown mode.

But facts are facts. The Mets nearly doubled their run total from the first two contests in Game 3. They more than doubled their tally of extra-base hits. And they did it behind an inspirational performance from a beloved veteran and clubhouse leader.

Suffice it to say, New York is awake—and we have ourselves a series.

All statistics current as of Oct. 30 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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The New York Mets bats fell silent in Game 2 of the World Series, but they made a serious racket in Friday’s 9-3 Game 3 win over the Kansas City Royals at Citi Field. 

One game after mustering two hits against Johnny Cueto, the Mets offense came alive against Yordano Ventura. In 3.1 innings, Kansas City’s starter surrendered seven hits and five earned runs, which proved to be all New York needed.

Third baseman David Wright—who entered Friday night with three RBI in the postseason—went 2-for-5 with four RBI, including a two-run single in the sixth to blow things open.

According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the four runs Wright plated were the second-most by a Mets player in a World Series game. Rusty Staub tallied five in Game 4 of the 1973 Fall Classic.

Mets starter Noah Syndergaard was touched up early in the first World Series start of his career, but the 23-year-old regained his composure and struck out six over six innings. The flamethrower also retired 12 straight batters at one point before calmly working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. 

Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal pointed to Syndergaard’s poise as a turning point: 

Syndergaard came out throwing serious heat, but Kansas City wasn’t fazed. The Royals struck first on an RBI groundout from Eric Hosmer in the game’s opening frame, and the American League champions went on to rack up six hits over the game’s first two innings.

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman broke down how the Royals were able to succeed at the plate early on:

But for a change, the Mets had enough offense to keep pace—and then some. New York entered the night batting .220 in the playoffs, but it supplied Syndergaard with encouraging run support in the first inning thanks to a two-run bomb from Wright:

The blast was the second of Wright’s career in postseason play, per ESPN Stats & Info, and it wasn’t the last ball the Mets would launch into the Citi Field stands.

After the Royals posted two runs in the second inning, Curtis Granderson poked one over the right field wall in the third to propel the Mets back in front.

As ESPN Stats & Info diagrammed, the shallow dimensions in right field allowed Granderson’s ball to clear the fences:

The Mets even got contributions at the plate from Syndergaard (1-for-2 with a run scored) and pinch hitter Juan Uribe, who singled home a run in his first plate appearance since Sept. 25 to give his side a 6-3 lead in the sixth.

It’s hard to overstate how important the Game 3 win was for the Mets. Had they lost, it would have effectively been a death sentence.

In league history, no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the World Series to win, according to WhoWins.com, while teams with 2-1 leads are 55-27 when it comes to closing out the World Series.

The team will task Steven Matz with drawing the Mets even when Game 4 gets underway Saturday night (8:07 p.m. ET).

“This is where you want to be in baseball,” Matz said, per the Kansas City Star‘s Chris Fickett. “This is the dream. This is what you write up in your backyard when you’re playing wiffle ball.”

The Royals will hand the ball to Chris Young, who would love to stick it to his former team as Kansas City attempts to seize control of the World Series and ward off the hard-charging Mets.

Post-Game Reaction

The Royals evidently weren’t pleased with Syndergaard’s decision to open the game with some high heat against Alcides Escobar, according to the Kansas City Stars Andy McCullough: 

Hosmer had a take on the situation as well, per the Kansas City Star’s Vahe Gregorian: 

According to Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller, Syndergaard responded with a challenge: 

Mets manager Terry Collins had no problems with his pitcher’s performance, per the team’s official Twitter account: 

The Mets’ captain also drew high praise. 

“He’s David Wright for a reason,” Mets pitcher Tyler Clippard said, per DiComo. “No moment is too big for him.” 

With Friday’s win in hand, the Mets will try and sustain a crazy trend.

When the Mets won the World Series in 1986, they lost Games 1 and 2 by one and six runs, respectively, before winning Game 3 by six. This year, the Mets have posted the exact same margins in their first three World Series games, per B/R Insights. 

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Game 3 of the 2015 World Series is upon us, as the Fall Classic shifts to Citi Field with the New York Mets’ hopes resting on the arms of two rookie starters: Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. Down 0-2 in the series versus a hot-hitting Kansas City Royals lineup, how much will the duo’s youth and inexperience hurt the Mets?

Friday, Syndergaard will go up against Yordano Ventura. The Dominican 6-footer pitched brilliantly on baseball’s biggest stage during last year’s World Series.

As for Matz, he gets to toe the rubber opposite Chris Young, who was composed under pressure, pitching three innings of no-hit ball out of the bullpen to earn the win in Game 1 on Tuesday.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the social media murmurings ahead of Games 3 and 4 in order to dig a little deeper as to where the series might be headed.

While Syndergaard has only been pitching in the majors since May 12, he has garnered high marks for his composure and poise on the mound all year long. Combine that with the fact that he has been completely dominant at home this season, and it’s no wonder why the young man is full of self-assurance ahead of the biggest start of his life, per Major League Baseball’s Instagram:

But Ventura has the know-how. 

During the 2014 World Series, he shut down the San Francisco Giants in Game 6 to save his team and force a Game 7. He is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two career World Series starts.

Even though Ventura had a down year in 2015, he is fully capable of rising to the occasion. That is one reason why the Mets may be in serious trouble. 

Oh, and the Kansas City Royals seem to be the hottest sports team in the world right now.

During a four-run fourth inning in Game 2, they seemed to be all over almost every pitch Mets starter Jacob deGrom threw, a point that MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince was quick to point out on Twitter:

The Royals have only struck out a total of 10 times this series.

If progress is to be made in the strikeouts department, Syndergaard will have to dial it up in terms of velocity.

In the 111 years of World Series history, only 11 teams have done what the Mets are attempting to do, per SB Nation’s MLB Twitter page:

In any case, this should be a fun game to watch if you dig the fastball, per MLB’s Instagram:

As MLB.com correspondent Richard Justice points out, there may be a bit of hope for the Mets yet:

Looking ahead to Game 4 on Saturday, Matz has a tough task in trying to beat Young, who, at age 36, has far more experience than him. Nevertheless, the Mets remain positive, as evident from injured pitcher Jerry Blevins’ Tweet:

New York’s two rookie starting pitchers must do all they can to limit Kansas City’s ability to get hits in bunches, a task that seems very difficult at the moment. Royals manager Ned Yost’s quote on MLB’s Instagram sums it up: 

As Fox lead color commentator Tom Verducci said, these Royals just don’t quit. They are relentless.

They have looked far too comfortable at the plate, seeing the ball so well. The Mets response should be to pitch them inside more and brush the hitters off the plate.

Intimidate them. Get in their heads. That might be their only shot at getting back in this series.

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Even though the New York Mets are returning home for the World Series in a 2-0 hole against the Kansas City Royals, they have lost just one playoff game at Citi Field in 2015. 

Odds are not in New York’s favor to win the World Series, as no team has won the Fall Classic after dropping the first two games since the 1996 New York Yankees. 

It also doesn’t help the Mets’ cause that Kansas City still has two games left, if necessary, and the Royals haven’t lost at home in the postseason since the Houston Astros won Game 1 of the American League Division Series. 

Game 3 Odds

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Preview 

Looking at how the series stands, it’s no surprise the list of potential MVP candidates is filled with Royals. The big surprise is that Johnny Cueto is leading the pack, because if Kansas City wins before Game 6, he would only get one start. 

Granted, Cueto‘s one start was masterful and unlike any other start in the World Series in 20 years, per ESPN Stats & Info:

ESPN’s Buster Olney, citing Elias Sports Bureau, did note Cueto is the first pitcher since Roger Clemens in 2000 to have two starts of at least eight innings pitched and two hits or fewer allowed. MVP voters could decide to give the Kansas City right-hander MVP with just one start as a way of honoring his resurgence this October. 

The Mets will have a chance to get back in the series with rookie Noah Syndergaard opposing Chris Young in Game 3. 

If you believe in history being an indicator of the future, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo has a piece of information that works in New York’s favor:

A more substantial reason to be optimistic about the Mets’ chances is the National League venue, which Phil Rogers of MLB.com notes hasn’t been kind to American League opponents in recent World Series. 

“In the past nine World Series,” Rogers wrote, “American League teams have gone 8-17 in NL parks. The 2006 Tigers, ’08 Rays, ’10 Rangers and ’12 Tigers failed to win a game on NL soil.”

The Royals won’t have the same lineup depth because designated hitter Kendrys Morales, who led the team in slugging percentage (.485) and tied for the team lead in homers (22), will be relegated to pinch-hit duty. 

There’s also the matter of Kansas City’s lineup being able to make contact, as Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom have combined for four strikeouts in 11 innings this World Series.

That high contact rate has seemed to change the game plan for Mets starters coming into the game, as Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com wrote after Game 2.

“In Games 1 and 2, Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom each averaged roughly 96 MPH with their fastball,” Cerrone wrote. “Yet, Harvey threw it just 37 percent of the time, while deGrom threw his 39 percent of the time, down from his regular-season norm of 60 percent.”

Syndergaard also relies on his fastball, throwing it just under 62 percent of the time during the regular season and averaging 97.1 mph with the pitch.

Royals hitters have no doubt picked up on the fact that Harvey and deGrom were afraid to consistently challenge them with their fastball, so they could look for a breaking ball. Syndergaard should look to establish his heater early before turning to the curveball and changeup the second time through the order.

Per Daren Willman of MLBFarm.com, the Royals have had virtually no success against fastballs at least 95 mph in the World Series:

Another key for the Mets is getting the offense going. It’s hardly a surprise that Daniel Murphy has stopped hitting home runs like Barry Bonds in 2001, but the bad news is no one else around him is stepping up his game. 

Cueto‘s splendid effort in Game 2 can be chalked up to a great player pitching a great game, as tends to happen in October, but the Mets had 15 hitters reach in Game 1 via hits, walks and errors with just four runs to show for it. 

A big reason for that is because the Mets only had one extra-base hit—a home run by Curtis Granderson—in the game. By contrast, the Royals had the same number of hits as the Mets in the first game (11), but four went for extra bases. 

Yoenis Cespedes, who did need a cortisone shot in his shoulder before the World Series, looks like an injured player with one hit in his last 12 at-bats. David Wright has just two extra-base hits this postseason and no homers.

The Mets could get away with those performances when their pitching staff was shutting down a bad Los Angeles Dodgers lineup and overmatched Chicago Cubs lineup, but the Royals make too much contact for the starters to throw seven or eight innings each night. 

Since the Mets are returning home and have been so good at Citi Field, look for them to get back on track in Game 3, but the Royals will steal one game on the road and return home with a chance to close things out at Kauffman Stadium. 

Stats via FanGraphs.com

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Boston Red Sox pitcher Brian Johnson, who made his Major League Baseball debut in July, was the victim of a carjacking in Florida on Friday. 

According to a report from Florida Today, the Cocoa Beach Police Department said Johnson was not hurt in the incident, which took place around 2 a.m. at a convenience store where he was with friends. Per the report, “Johnson was approached by the carjacker, who then fired a round at the ground while Johnson was still in the car.”

Members of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office then found and arrested Johnathan Oshaun Gould, 31, “after a short foot pursuit,” per the report. Gould has been charged with “carjacking, aggravated assault, persons engaged in a criminal offense having weapons, possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon and violation of felony probation.” 

After spending two full seasons in the minors, Johnson made his first MLB start with the Red Sox on July 21 against the Houston Astros. He was sent down to Triple-A after the game, ending the season on the minor league disabled list with elbow tightness. 

Johnson played college baseball at the University of Florida from 2010-12, reaching the College World Series championship series in 2011. The Red Sox drafted the left-hander with the 31st pick in 2012. 

The good news is Johnson came out of the incident unharmed. He should enter spring training in the mix for a spot in Boston’s starting rotation, assuming his elbow problems subside in the offseason. 

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Mets captain David Wright picked a great time to snap out of his long funk and return to form. Even if it was a brief flash of his former grandeur, Wright’s two-run home run and two-run single helped the Mets creep back into the series with a Game 3 victory and cut the World Series deficit to 2-1.

Though the Mets would eventually win by a 9-3 margin, the final score isn’t indicative of the tense moments in the middle innings and how close the Mets were to letting it all slip away again. Rookie Noah Syndergaard wouldn’t let it happen.

After immediately giving up a run in the top of the first to put the Mets in a hole, David Wright’s two-run homer gave Syndergaard the lead right back. He gave up two runs in a shaky second inning as well, prompting Jon Niese to start warming in the bullpen. From that point on, however, Syndergaard settled in.

With all of the pressure on his broad shoulders, the 23-year-old buckled down and kept the game close enough for the Mets’ bats to erupt. It wasn’t easy, as Syndergaard held on to a 5-3 lead by leaving the bases loaded in the sixth inning—an inning in which the Mets would go on to score four insurance runs.

The Mets will look to keep the good times rolling at Citi Field by sending out rookie stud Steven Matz in Game 4 with the hopes of evening the series. Kansas City will answer with Chris Young, who was terrific in a relief role in the marathon Game 1.

FINAL: Mets 9 – Royals 3

Dan Ferrara is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter (@BigRed_BR) for more analysis.

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The Kansas City Royals are just two wins away from capturing the 2015 World Series title, but to pad their lead, they must now leave the comforting confines of Kauffman Stadium for the hostile stronghold that is the New York Mets’ Citi Field. 

Game 3 is essentially a must-win for the Mets. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. The Mets lost Game 1 5-4 in 14 innings on Tuesday, then completely lost the plot against Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto, who threw a complete-game two-hitter in a 7-1 Royals victory on Wednesday. 

Kansas City has a rested bullpen thanks to Cueto‘s brilliant start, while the Mets have to contend with a tired staff and the prospect of waking up some dormant bats. 

It should be known that only 11 teams have come back from down 0-2 to win a World Series. The 1986 Mets were one of them, the MLB reminded: 

Here is the live stream and TV info for Game 3, followed by a roundup of what both sides are saying heading into Friday’s pivotal contest.  

2015 World Series Game 3 Viewing Info

When: Friday, October 30 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Citi Field in New York City

TV: Fox

Live Stream: FoxSportsGo

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Latest Comments

Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura (0-1, 5.09 ERA in 2015 postseason) and New York’s Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 2.77 ERA) are the probable starters on Friday. It’s yet another matchup between two hard-throwing pitchers. The Mets are hoping that the home crowd can rattle Ventura, who’s had a lackluster postseason thus far. 

“Our fans are pretty tough,” manager Terry Collins said Thursday, per USA Today‘s Gabe Lacques. “They’re tough. They’re strong and they’re tough. I’ve been on the other side of the field, not in the World Series, but on the other side of the field in New York City in a big series and it’s hard. It’s tough.”

Ventura‘s been a bit wild in four playoff starts this year. He’s allowed 20 hits and walked eight in 17.2 innings pitched, to the tune of 10 earned runs. Still, the Royals have won three of the games he’s started, and in his last outing, Ventura gave up just one run in 5.1 innings pitched.

While Kansas City hopes Ventura doesn’t get too riled up on Friday, the Mets legions would be happy to see Syndergaard, aka “Thor,” hammer the Royals with his own nasty heater. 

“Syndergaard has to be who he is. You cannot go out there and reinvent yourself in Game 3 of the World Series,’’ said Bobby Ojeda, who pitched for the Mets in the ’86 World Series, per the New York Post‘s Kevin Kernan.

For a pitching staff predicated on blow-your-house-down stuff, Ojeda was disappointed to see Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom seemingly shy away from what they do best in the first two games.

“I’m being analytical, not critical,’’ said Ojeda, via Kernan. “What I’ve seen in Harvey and in deGrom is they are going to plan B before they even attempt plan A. In other words they are pitching to KC’s weakness rather than pitching to their strength.”

Harvey and deGrom combined for just four strikeouts in Games 1 and 2. While that suggests they weren’t attacking the Royals bats enough, it could be that in this instance, good hitting is beating good pitching. Per ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark, the Royals swing at fast pitches, but they do not miss: 

On Tuesday, Harvey threw 30 fastballs. The Royals swung at and missed two of them. On Wednesday, deGrom threw 54 fastballs. The Royals swung at and missed none of them.

But wait. There’s more. On Tuesday, Harvey threw 18 pitches with two strikes. The Royals swung at and missed one of them. On Wednesday, deGrom threw 28 pitches with two strikes. The Royals didn’t swing at and miss a single one of them.

“Me? Personally? I saw deGrom real well, windup and stretch,” Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain said, via Michael Powell of the New York Times. “Guys just lock in, you know?”

When a lineup has laser-like precision against one of the faster pitchers in the league, it certainly seems like an insurmountable obstacle. Syndergaard is undeterred, citing the Citi Field faithful and his team’s character as reasons to believe the Mets can make a comeback, per ESPN.com’s Adam Rubin:

Obviously we didn’t plan this to happen to be down 0-2. Coming back home is a big thing for us — having the Mets faithful behind us and the greatest fans in baseball. Part of the reason our team has had so much success this year is being to handle the resiliency and come together as a team, overcome and win some ballgames.

The Royals will look to stymie any sort of a Mets fightback on Friday. They came within one game of winning the 2014 World Series. To suffer the same fate this year would likely be too great to bear for many of these players. Plus, as a smaller-market team with a mostly sad history, there’s little guarantee the Royals will make it back to such lofty heights again. Belief in what they can do now is key.

“Our confidence level hasn’t changed since the first day of spring training to today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said, via UPI.com’s Alan Eskew. “Our confidence has been high all year long. We expected to be here. We expected to compete for a world championship against a tough team.”

Kansas City is in control in this series. All it has to do is stay the course, keep swinging early and often in counts and play the same tight defense that’s been a boon to the squad all year. Syndergaard is just a rookie after all. The Royals have the experience to not let the moment overwhelm them. 

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The Kansas City Royals won Game 1 by orchestrating another comeback. They won Game 2 by slowly and methodically wearing out New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom with patience and constant contact at the plate while Johnny Cueto threw a complete-game gem.

It’s the script the Royals have been writing all season long. It shouldn’t be shocking they’ve performed it perfectly on the biggest stage. 

The Mets have written their own tale to this point, however, and the main protagonists have been the team’s brilliant starting pitchers. Matt Harvey and deGrom haven’t been able to beat the Royals. But perhaps Noah Syndergaard can flip the script.

Syndergaard has been great this postseason, going 1-1 in three appearances with a 2.77 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 20 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched. That followed an excellent regular season that saw him go 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 166 strikeouts in 150 innings.

The rookie is a large, intimidating power pitcher who doesn’t seem terribly caught up in the moment.

“I’m really excited about Friday’s start,” he told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, before calmly adding, “It’s just another game.”

Game 3 of the World Series, when your team is down 2-0 and you are a rookie, well…that’s not just another game. But Syndergaard‘s demeanor is a big part of his success, as his manager Terry Collins told Kernan.

He has no fear, he believes he belongs here. And that speaks volumes. When you’ve got that kind of stuff and you’re not afraid to throw it and you’re not afraid to give up a hit because you think you can get the next guy out, you can get dangerous. Noah just got better and better and better as the season went along with the confidence he had that he could be successful here. It all comes with his desire to get better.

Syndergaard has struck out nine batters in each of his last four starts. That may prove to be far trickier against a Royals team that swung and missed just three times against deGrom in Game 2, according to Ben Reiter of SI.com.

That’s right, folks—against one of the best pitchers in baseball, who threw 94 pitches in Game 2, the Royals failed to make contact when they swung at a pitch just three times. That’s insane. That’s the sort of approach that can neutralize a power arm. 

And it wasn’t an outlier performance from the Royals, as Jayson Stark of ESPN wrote:

The Mets’ pitching staff, as a whole, had a swing-and-miss rate in the first two rounds of 31.7 percent. Against the Royals, it has plummeted to less than half of that—to 15.4 percent.

And there’s nothing accidental about that. It’s the philosophy of the house. Swing early. Shorten up. Be aggressive. Don’t surrender.

Maybe Syndergaard can turn the tide. But even if he does stifle the Royals, the Mets still have the small matter of solving Yordano Ventura and his electric stuff. 

Ventura is 0-1 in four starts this postseason with a 5.09 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 21 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched. Those numbers don’t look great, but Ventura has gone five innings in each of his last three starts without giving up more than three runs, so he’s been a bridge to Kansas City’s elite bullpen more times than not. 

It’s been an up-and-down season for Ventura, but there’s no questioning how nasty he can be when he’s on his game. And after Cueto went nine innings, the Royals really only need five innings from him again before turning things over to their amazing bullpen, which Cueto gave some much-needed rest.

And even if the Mets get their bats going, those pesky Royals always seem to come up with hits in crunch time. 

Add it all up, and the Royals sure seem like a pending World Series champion. The Mets don’t feel like a team that is going to go down without a fight either, however, and Game 3 is probably a prime chance to steal a win. Syndergaard has been great and Ventura can be awfully shaky, so the Mets are going to sneak away with a 4-2 win in Game 3. 

They’ll win this battle. Just don’t expect them to win the war. 

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