Cueto stifles Mets’ hitters

Kansas City has 2-0 series edge thanks to two-hitter

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, MO.

Following the final out, after Johnny Cueto completed his two-hitter, several hundred fans remained in Kauffman Stadium, wanting one more look at the Kansas City Royals.

The next time they see Eric Hosmer and his teammates may be in a parade.

After smothering the Mets 7-1 Wednesday night with Cueto and their pesky offense, the Royals have a 2-0 World Series lead and can capture their first title since 1985 when play resumes at New York’s Citi Field this weekend.

Hosmer thought about Kansas City’s seven-game loss to the Giants in 2014.

“There’s still a lot of work yet to do,” he said. “Last year we took a 2-1 lead in San Francisco and were feeling pretty good about ourselves.”

Kansas City wore down Jacob deGrom with persistence and prowess, then pounced. Hosmer hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in a four-run fifth inning that included 14 foul balls.

Nineteen hours after Hosmer’s sacrifice fly won a 14-inning thriller, Cueto varied his delivery with occasional quick pitches and kept the Mets off balance. An excited crowd stood on its feet for long stretches to cheer on the rainy night. Some fans wore wigs resembling Cueto’s long, dark dreadlocks — including the Royals’ mascot, Slugerrr.

The teams take today off then New York’s Citi Field hosts its first Series game Friday, when rookie Noah Syndergaard starts for the Mets and Yordano Ventura for the Royals.

Forty-one of the 51 teams to take 2-0 leads in best-of-seven World Series have gone on to win the title, including nine straight since Atlanta stumbled against the New York Yankees in 1996.

Kansas City had the best contact hitters in the major leagues this season, missing on just 19.7 percent of swings, according to STATS. The Dodgers and Cubs swung and missed 58 times in deGrom’s first three postseason outings, but he got just three swings and misses against the Royals — his career low.

“We don’t swing and miss,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We find ways to just keep putting the ball in play until you find holes.”

Of deGrom’s 94 pitches, 23 were fouled off by the Royals.

“I told Jake not everything has to be a strike,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “You’ve got to move it around. You’ve got to change speeds, give them something to look at. If you continue to pound the strike zone, they’re going to put it in play, and that’s what they did.”

Cueto has struggled on the road, where opposing fans taunt him by repeating his name in a sing-song voice. But since the Royals acquired the free-agent-to-be from Cincinnati in July, he’s been Johnny on the spot at Kauffman Stadium. He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings to win Game 5 of the Division Series against Houston, and Kansas City lined up its Series rotation to have Cueto starting Games 2 and 6 at home.

Cueto struck out four and walked three in the low-hit Series complete game by an AL pitcher since Boston’s Jim Lonborg threw a one-hitter against St. Louis in 1967.

Both New York hits were soft singles by Lucas Duda, an infield roller to third that took advantage of the shift in the second inning and an opposite-field RBI single to left in the fourth. Cueto let loose some emotion at the end of the eighth inning, when Alcides Escobar made a nifty play to retire Juan Lagares for the final out. As Escobar sprinted past him, Cueto exchanged a flamboyant high five with the shortstop.