Royals win World Series Game 1 on Eric Hosmer's 14th-inning sac fly
1st baseman makes up for error earlier in game
Alcides Escobar started the World Series with a jolt. Five hours later, he ended the longest opener ever with a jump, into the arms of his joyous Kansas City Royals teammates.
Saved by Alex Gordon's tying home run in the ninth inning off New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia, the Royals won in the 14th when Eric Hosmer's sacrifice fly scored Escobar for a 5-4 win over New York late Tuesday night.
Tonight was huge. Home run by Alex Gordon and the character and fight, find a way to win late, great team effort.- Royals pitcher Chris Young
This tied for the longest Series game in history, and in five hours nine minutes, it had a little bit of everything packed in. A lot of everything, actually.
"Tonight was huge," Royals pitcher Chris Young said. "Home run by Alex Gordon and the character and fight, find a way to win late, great team effort."
Escobar hit an inside-the-park homer on the very first pitch from Matt Harvey. Later, a power failure caused the national TV audience and the team's replay rooms to go dark.
The nearer it got to midnight, and beyond, the more oddly the ball bounced.
In the 11th, Salvador Perez grounded a single that hit the third-base bag and caromed high in the air. In the 12th, Daniel Murphy struck out on a pitch that got past Perez, it ricocheted off the backstop to the Royals catcher, who threw out Murphy at first.
About the only thing missing? A home run by Murphy, who had connected in a record six straight post-season games. The MVP of the National League Championship Series did contribute a pair of singles.
Then in the 14th, Escobar reached on an error by third baseman David Wright. Ben Zobrist's single put runners at the corners and an intentional walk to Lorenzo Cain loaded the bases.
Redemption
Hosmer atoned for a key error by lifting a fly ball to medium-deep right field, and Escobar barely beat Curtis Granderson's throw home.
"I wanted to redeem myself for what happened earlier," Hosmer said. "That's the beauty of this game. Always get a chance to redeem yourself and can't thank my teammates enough."
Escobar streaked home standing up, and the Royals rushed from the dugout to meet him.
Young pitched three innings for the win.
It was 12:18 a.m. CT at Kauffman Stadium, and Game 2 is Wednesday (8:07 p.m. ET).
Hairy matchup
Jacob deGrom starts for the Mets against Johnny Cueto. It's a hairy matchup: DeGrom's flowing tresses vs. Cueto's mop of dreadlocks.
Royals starter Edinson Volquez did his best on the day his father died in the Dominican Republic.
With the game tied 1-1, Granderson homered in the fifth inning and the Mets extended the margin to 3-1 in the sixth. Mike Moustakas lined a tying single off Mets starter Matt Harvey to tie it 3-3 in the sixth.
Hosmer let Wilmer Flores' two-out, two-hopper get past him in the eighth, allowing Juan Lagares to scamper home with the go-ahead run.
Next thing Hosmer knew, he was embracing Gordon on the bench. Gordon most surely enjoyed going 90 feet farther than he made it last October.
When last seen in the Series, he was held up at third base in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 after an outfield misplay. He got stranded there and K.C. fell a run short against San Francisco.