St. Louis Cardinals: Four Things Learned From World Series

2. Defense Loses Championships

Oops, he did it again. Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy muffed another ground ball in Game 5. Lucky for him, it didn’t matter as much as the one he missed in Game 4. Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Aside from Eric Hosmer‘s misplays on a couple of hot shots down the line, the Royals defense was solid for the entire World Series. Just look at this play to end the 5th. It tells you all you need to know about Kansas City. The Mets? They were another story. Daniel Murphy may have gotten a reprieve from the New York media thanks to the Harvey controversy and first baseman Lucas Duda’s errant throw home in the top of the 9th.

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Twitter was immediately abuzz about that play, in which Hosmer broke from third base on a grounder to a drawn-in David Wright. Wright likes to hop step. Hosmer hopped along with him, right down the line and into a sprint for the plate. A good throw would’ve gotten Hosmer, tweeted one side of the argument. Hosmer was smart to run and put pressure on the Mets, tweeted the other. Actually, both sides are right. Hosmer would’ve been out had it been Hosmer playing first base. But it was Duda and the Mets, so he was right to think what did happen would happen.

The Mets made more miscues than that. Remember Yoenis Cespedes totally misplaying Alcides Escobar’s tone-setting inside-the-park homer in Game 1? Sheesh. Credit goes to the Royals for capitalizing on almost every Met error.

Next: Pressure, Like Greed, Is Good. Pressure Works