The World Series got underway last night, and it was a pretty freaking exciting affair. I’ll confess I didn’t make it until the end of the 14-inning marathon, but I did get to see the back-and-forth tussle in regulation, which was capped off by this Alex Gordon homer to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th:
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A pretty incredible moment, and it came off of Mets closer Jeurys Familia (you may remember him from the NLCS), who had not blown a save since *JULY.*
The Royals finally won it in the 14th, and, although sacrifice flies are not the most exciting play in the game, they are when they’re part of a World Series walk-off:
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It was an unimaginable night for Royals starter Edinson Volquez; not because of the win, but because his father, 63, passed away in the Dominican Republic only moments before he was set to take the mound. At his wife’s request, Volquez was not told until after he’d exited the game (Royals.com). Everyone else seemed to have learned about the death before the game started, and I really can’t imagine having to keep that from Volquez as he pitched. It’s just a terrible situation, but obviously the Royals had to respect the family’s wishes in that situation. Thank God no one in the stands shouted the information to Volquez as he walked to the dugout.
Chris Young was due to start Game Four for the Royals, but he was needed to throw three shutout innings, so it’s unclear if he’ll be able to go.
The Royals lead off their first half of the first inning with, no big deal, an inside-the-park homer:
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That took him only 15 seconds. Unbelievable. I’m not sure I could get to second base in 15 seconds. (Phrasing.)
The game was interrupted for a FOX shutdown due to technical difficulties, which, although it may have been out of their control, is still a really bad look when you’ve waited all postseason to broadcast a game on the mothership. Then, Game One, FOX goes black for a while, loses the main feed, has to bounce back and forth between the international feed and the studio, and the game even has to be stopped for a while. Someone is having a very bad morning after that.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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