Kansas City’s Johnny Cueto pitched a two-hit, complete-game masterpiece on Wednesday as the Royals ripped the New York Mets 7-1 to seize command of the 111th World Series.
The 29-year-old dreadlocked Dominican mystified a New York lineup that had belted at least one home run in 10 consecutive playoff games, holding the baffled Mets to their fewest hits ever in a playoff game and retiring 16 of the final 17 batters he faced without allowing a hit over the final five innings.
“Tonight was everything we expected Johnny to be,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He was on the attack. He kept the ball down. He changed speeds. It was just a spectacular performance.”
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Kansas City grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven final, which shifts to New York for Game 3 and Game 4 today and tomorrow.
Cueto became the first World series pitcher since Atlanta’s Greg Maddux in 1995, and the first American League pitcher since 1967, to throw a complete game while surrendering two hits or less. He struck out four and walked three, while tossing 70 of 122 pitches for strikes.
“He was electric,” Royals slugger Eric Hosmer said. “He pretty much went out there and put the team on his back.”
Royals batters hammered New York starter Jacob deGrom for four runs on five hits in the fifth inning and added three insurance runs in the eighth to ensure Cueto would pitch the final inning, becoming the first American League pitcher since 1991 to complete a World Series start.
“Thank God I got the opportunity to close this game out,” Cueto said. “The longer the game goes the stronger I get. I felt relaxed. I knew I had a 7-1 lead and had to just attack the hitters.”
No team has ever lost the first three games and rallied to win the World Series, adding to the tension for Mets manager Terry Collins.
“We’re not hitting. That’s what I see,” Collins said. “We have got to pick it up offensively. We’ve got to make some adjustments in our lineup to start getting some hits.”
The Royals won their only World Series title 30 years ago, while the Mets last captured the crown in 1986, but Kansas City led San Francisco 2-1 in last year’s World Series and led in Game 4 only to drop the series in seven games.
“You realize the series is far from over. There’s still a lot of work yet to do,” Hosmer said. “You have got to keep your foot on the gas and keep pushing.”
New York scored first when Daniel Murphy walked, advanced on a fielder’s choice and scored on the second single of the game by Lucas Duda. It was the last hit Cueto would allow.
The Mets had not managed fewer than three hits in any prior playoff game.
Kansas City responded by breaking open the game in the fifth as deGrom became the first Mets starter since Sept. 22 to surrender more than three runs.
Alex Gordon walked, took second base on an Alex Rios single and scored on Alcides Escobar’s single. After Ben Zobrist advanced the runners on a ground-out to first, Hosmer smacked a single up the middle to score them both and later scored himself on a Mike Moustakas single for a 4-1 Royals lead.
From there, Cueto dazzled the Mets. He has allowed only two earned runs over his past 20 innings in home playoff games.
“A lot of pride, a lot of energy I get from our fans,” Cueto said. “I feel great when I hear our fans supporting me.”
They were chanting his name in the ninth after the Royals padded their lead in the eighth.
“Johnny thrives in this environment,” Yost said. “I just felt very, very strongly that he was going to put up a great performance, and he did.”
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