Royals send Game 5 to extras with ridiculous baserunning play

The Royals have done it yet again. They weren’t on the brink of elimination, not this time, but they were down just the same in the top of the ninth inning in Game 5 against the Mets. “Were” is the unfortunate word there, at least for Mets’ fans.

Matt Harvey convinced manager Terry Collins to let him come back out for the ninth inning to finish what he started -- a complete-game shutout of the Royals that would let the Mets live on in the World Series. Instead, Harvey allowed what looked like an adrenaline-fueled walk to Lorenzo Cain, then a run-scoring double to Eric Hosmer. He was lifted for closer Jeurys Familia, who got the first out but moved Hosmer to third in the process. Then, this happened with Salvador Perez at the plate:

It was heads-up baserunning by Hosmer, in the sense he knew the Mets would have to make a desperate throw. He’s lucky, though, that Lucas Duda’s desperate throw wasn’t on target, because it beat him to the plate by a whole lot:

As any World Series winner will tell you, though, you need a little luck. An ability to hold a lead also helps, and the Mets’ infield defense just has not helped with that this series. Of course, the Royals haven’t won the World Series just yet, but now they’re tied up 2-2 in extras, so they still have the chance on Sunday night because of it.