With no margin for error, Harvey put the Mets’ last hope in his hands and hung on as long as he could. After eight scoreless innings, he pushed to pitch the ninth and finally faltered.
“Obviously, I let my heart get in the way of my gut. I love my players. And I trust them,” manager Terry Collins said. “It didn’t work. It was my fault.”
New York slugger Yoenis Cespedes exited with knee pain but Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff homer, his third long ball of the Series, and the Mets managed a 2-0 lead against heavy-hearted Royals starter Edinson Volquez, pitching one day after returning from his father’s funeral.
But for these resilient Royals, no deficit is too large, no time in the game too late.
“We never quit. We never put our heads down,” Perez said. “We always compete to the last out.”
Perez looped a leadoff single in the 12th off losing pitcher Addison Reed, and pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson stole second. One out later, Colon stepped in as a pinch-hitter for his first plate appearance since the regular-season finale Oct. 4.
Hardly rusty, he lined a 1-2 pitch into left-center and pounded his chest at first base.
“He’s a winner,” Yost said.
Alcides Escobar added an RBI double, and Cain’s bases-loaded double off 42-year-old Bartolo Colon broke it open.
All that was left was for Wade Davis to close it out. He threw a called third strike past Wilmer Flores to end it and tossed his glove high in the air as the Royals rushed toward the mound to celebrate.
Hundreds of Royals fans dressed in blue descended toward the Kansas City dugout to cheer their champs. Perez received his MVP award after the catcher hit .364.
Later, the Mets came back onto the field to salute a smaller pocket of fans who stuck around for one last chant of “Let’s go, Mets!”