Playoff Gameday Thread, #19: That difficult second game

Game 2, 5:07 pm Fox. Royals lead 1-0

Jacob deGrom RHP, 14-8, 2.54

Johnny Cueto RHP, 11-13, 3.44

Curtis Granderson - RF	Alcides Escobar - SS
David Wright - 3B	Ben Zobrist - 2B
Daniel Murphy - 2B	Lorenzo Cain - CF
Yoenis Cespedes - LF	Eric Hosmer - 1B
Lucas Duda - 1B	Kendrys Morales - DH
Travis d'Arnaud - C	Mike Moustakas - 3B
Michael Conforto - DH	Salvador Perez - C
Wilmer Flores - SS	Alex Gordon - LF
Juan Lagares - CF	Alex Rios - RF

Let's see if I can actually finish this today, rather than getting dragged away in the middle of a paragraph leaving it looking like the final log entry on the Marie Celeste. I have to confess, I didn't get to watch any of Game 1 at all, and am kinda kicking myself as a result. The first ever opening game of the World Series to last longer than five hours, it shattered the old mark of 4:51, by the Yankees-Mets in 2000, by a full 18 minutes - that one had been the only one ever to pass four hours. Of course, it helped it was the first Game 1 in World Series history to get past 12 innings, done four times, most recently that NYY-NYM contest.

It certainly sets the bar high for early drama, with the Royals tying the game up in the bottom of the ninth, off one of the most successful closers in the National League this year, tying the Mets' franchise record with 43 regular season saves, and having converted 21 straight before last night. [His last blown save, on July 30, came courtesy of a three-run homer by Justin Upton] How will he and the Mets respond to such a loss? That's going to be the key question tonight, but with deGrom on the mound, they should have an edge, as Cueto has been extremely unreliable this post-season. If they manage to sneak a win here too, I'll be impressed.