With Matt Harvey pitching lights out going into the ninth inning Manager Terry Collins sent his starter back out. What happens next just shows the resilience of the Kansas City Royals. The Royals scored two runs and the tying run was on an errant throw by Lucas Duda. But all in all, what was the deciding factors to this World Series and why was it over in a New York minute?
Starts with starting pitching and defense. As I mentioned in the World Series Preview post this would be the deciding factor. Boy was I right! While the starting pitching was lights out on both sides during the series the Mets continued to commit errors at the most inopportune times. Then the bullpen could never lock it down for the Mets. Familia had a chance to close the game but instead blew his third save. Pitching and defense wins championships and this World Series just proved my theory right.
The offense did not show up for the Mets. David Murphy was the NLCS MVP but absolutely did not show up for the Mets when it mattered most. If the New York Mets thought they would win the series by solely pitching but lacking some offense and committing a host of errors. They were sorely wrong!
While many will want to blame manager Terry Collins for the loss. As a manager in a deciding game 5 you don't see pitch count. Familia had not locked down the saves in most of his opportunities in the World Series. So what did Collins do? Send Harvey out! So what! The decision that ultimately killed their chances at the game and pushing the World Series to a Game 6 was sending Familia out in the first place.
I'm not a New York Mets fan nor do I claim to be, but I see a team that while it may have been over in a New York minute in 2015. There will be other opportunities for this organization in years to come. Guess it's a good thing there are more seconds than minutes in a day.
Video courtesy of: G4MarchMadnessHD