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 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 early Wednesday morning in Kansas City. This tied for the longest World Series game in history, and it had a little bit of everything. A lot of everything, actually. 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 Tuesday—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. 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. 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. Escobar streaked home standing up, and the Royals rushed from the dugout to meet him. Game 2 is Wednesday night in Kansas City. (More Kansas City Royals stories.)
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