Johnny Cueto outpitches jerseys for cheap
This, now, this is why they got him. This moment, this stage, these stakes. The Most Important Player – maybe not the most valuable, custom cheap jerseys but arguably the most important – for the Royals in the 2015 World Series was cruising Wednesday night, top down, dreadlocks blowing in a misty wind, driving Kansas City to a 7-1 victory that put the American League Champions up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
“Johnny thrives in this environment,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Cueto, who went into Wednesday night with a 7.88 ERA this postseason, down, then up, then down, then up again. “He loves the fans, he loves to feed off their energy. I felt very strong that he was going to put up a great performance.”
“For him to come out here and throw a complete game,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said, cheap flights to new jersey from atlanta almost reverently. “That’s what an ace does. When you realize that your bullpen is pretty much spent and they’re pretty much burned out, he pretty much went out there and put the team on his back and made [closer] Wade [Davis] and [set-up man Kelvin] Herrera just have a a day off and gave them two full days [of rest] heading into New York.”
They made him throw 122 pitches on the evening – 70 for strikes – and yet the Mets never really, other than the fourth inning, made Cueto work much for it. With two outs in the aforementioned frame, New York’s Lucas Duda had jammed a bleeder the other way into short left field, plating Daniel Murphy with the first run of the game. But after the Royals had wrenched momentum back with a four-run fifth, Cueto kicked it into another gear, recording 1-2-3 innings in the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth.
While going through stretches when scoring three runs felt like scoring seven, Curtis Granderson was the glue to the Mets’ meek lineup. Although he struggled against lefties, to the point where Mets fans wondered how much longer manager Terry Collins could stick with him, New Yorkers finally saw the player they thought they were getting when he signed for the 2014 season. Granderson was tremendous against the Dodgers, working Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke hard, cheap football practice jerseys but struggled offensively against Chicago, though he did rob Chris Coghlan of a home run in Game 2 while scoring twice. His ability to set the table against the Royals will set the tone for the lineup in the series. Veteran Alex Rios, on the other hand, is without question the weakest, most un-Royal-like link on the field for the KC, so score one for the Mets here.
More to the point: when he’s great, so are they. Which circles back to the Most-Valuable argument, the whole Most-Important discussion. Besides the stat line, consider the context going into Wednesday. The Mets were sending out their hottest postseason arm, young Jacob deGrom, the right-hander with the cocker spaniel locks and the 1.80 postseason ERA. The Royals had burned through their bullpen late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning during a 14-inning Game 1 marathon, the staff physically tired and, compounded by the death of Edinson Volquez’s father, mentally fried.
“You saw it even in the (ninth) inning, still changing speeds, throwing strikes, using his change up, pitching to both sides of the plate,” Mets manager Terry Collins said of Cueto. “Very effective pitching (with) all the wind up, all the different deliveries, it throws your timing off. And he’s pitched great here. We’ve just got to worry about making some adjustments in our lineup to start getting some hits. He’s good. That’s why they went and got him.”
“If you’re going to continue to pound the strike zone, they’re going to put it in play,” Collins said, neatly summing up the Royals’ basic offensive philosophy. “And that’s what they did. You make bad pitches against a team that can hit, you’re going to get hurt.”
A former catcher, Yost relishes the hurt, cheap ny rangers jerseys relishes the tiny chess matches inherent in the game, especially those magnified in the postseason. The Royals skipper trusts the emotional Dominican righty, a midseason acquisition from Cincinnati, but he trusts him more when he’s got a full house on his side.
Since 2013, Cueto boasts a 2.18 ERA over his last 256 home innings, third best in the majors among qualified pitchers over that span. And while the Royals feast on fastballs, a Mets speciality – their .284 average against pitches 96mph or faster heading into the World Series led the majors – the Mets were hitting just .219, collectively, against the same kind of heat.
“I told Jake not everything has to be a strike,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “You’ve got to move it around. You’ve got to change speeds, give them something to look at. If you continue to pound the strike zone, they’re going to put it in play, and that’s what they did.”
Cueto has struggled on the road, where opposing fans taunt him by repeating his name in a sing-song voice. customized baseball jerseys cheap But since the Royals acquired the free-agent-to-be from Cincinnati in July, he’s been Johnny on the spot at Kauffman Stadium. He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings to win Game 5 of the Division Series against Houston, and Kansas City lined up its Series rotation to have Cueto starting Games 2 and 6 at home.
Both New York hits were soft singles by Lucas Duda, an infield roller to third that took advantage of the shift in the second inning and an opposite-field RBI single to left in the fourth. Cueto let loose some emotion at the end of the eighth inning, when Alcides Escobar made a nifty play to retire Juan Lagares for the final out. As Escobar sprinted past him, Cueto exchanged a flamboyant high five with the shortstop.
“Johnny thrives in this environment,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Cueto, who went into Wednesday night with a 7.88 ERA this postseason, down, then up, then down, then up again. “He loves the fans, he loves to feed off their energy. I felt very strong that he was going to put up a great performance.”
“For him to come out here and throw a complete game,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said, cheap flights to new jersey from atlanta almost reverently. “That’s what an ace does. When you realize that your bullpen is pretty much spent and they’re pretty much burned out, he pretty much went out there and put the team on his back and made [closer] Wade [Davis] and [set-up man Kelvin] Herrera just have a a day off and gave them two full days [of rest] heading into New York.”
They made him throw 122 pitches on the evening – 70 for strikes – and yet the Mets never really, other than the fourth inning, made Cueto work much for it. With two outs in the aforementioned frame, New York’s Lucas Duda had jammed a bleeder the other way into short left field, plating Daniel Murphy with the first run of the game. But after the Royals had wrenched momentum back with a four-run fifth, Cueto kicked it into another gear, recording 1-2-3 innings in the sixth, the seventh, and the eighth.
While going through stretches when scoring three runs felt like scoring seven, Curtis Granderson was the glue to the Mets’ meek lineup. Although he struggled against lefties, to the point where Mets fans wondered how much longer manager Terry Collins could stick with him, New Yorkers finally saw the player they thought they were getting when he signed for the 2014 season. Granderson was tremendous against the Dodgers, working Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke hard, cheap football practice jerseys but struggled offensively against Chicago, though he did rob Chris Coghlan of a home run in Game 2 while scoring twice. His ability to set the table against the Royals will set the tone for the lineup in the series. Veteran Alex Rios, on the other hand, is without question the weakest, most un-Royal-like link on the field for the KC, so score one for the Mets here.
More to the point: when he’s great, so are they. Which circles back to the Most-Valuable argument, the whole Most-Important discussion. Besides the stat line, consider the context going into Wednesday. The Mets were sending out their hottest postseason arm, young Jacob deGrom, the right-hander with the cocker spaniel locks and the 1.80 postseason ERA. The Royals had burned through their bullpen late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning during a 14-inning Game 1 marathon, the staff physically tired and, compounded by the death of Edinson Volquez’s father, mentally fried.
“You saw it even in the (ninth) inning, still changing speeds, throwing strikes, using his change up, pitching to both sides of the plate,” Mets manager Terry Collins said of Cueto. “Very effective pitching (with) all the wind up, all the different deliveries, it throws your timing off. And he’s pitched great here. We’ve just got to worry about making some adjustments in our lineup to start getting some hits. He’s good. That’s why they went and got him.”
“If you’re going to continue to pound the strike zone, they’re going to put it in play,” Collins said, neatly summing up the Royals’ basic offensive philosophy. “And that’s what they did. You make bad pitches against a team that can hit, you’re going to get hurt.”
A former catcher, Yost relishes the hurt, cheap ny rangers jerseys relishes the tiny chess matches inherent in the game, especially those magnified in the postseason. The Royals skipper trusts the emotional Dominican righty, a midseason acquisition from Cincinnati, but he trusts him more when he’s got a full house on his side.
Since 2013, Cueto boasts a 2.18 ERA over his last 256 home innings, third best in the majors among qualified pitchers over that span. And while the Royals feast on fastballs, a Mets speciality – their .284 average against pitches 96mph or faster heading into the World Series led the majors – the Mets were hitting just .219, collectively, against the same kind of heat.
“I told Jake not everything has to be a strike,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “You’ve got to move it around. You’ve got to change speeds, give them something to look at. If you continue to pound the strike zone, they’re going to put it in play, and that’s what they did.”
Cueto has struggled on the road, where opposing fans taunt him by repeating his name in a sing-song voice. customized baseball jerseys cheap But since the Royals acquired the free-agent-to-be from Cincinnati in July, he’s been Johnny on the spot at Kauffman Stadium. He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings to win Game 5 of the Division Series against Houston, and Kansas City lined up its Series rotation to have Cueto starting Games 2 and 6 at home.
Both New York hits were soft singles by Lucas Duda, an infield roller to third that took advantage of the shift in the second inning and an opposite-field RBI single to left in the fourth. Cueto let loose some emotion at the end of the eighth inning, when Alcides Escobar made a nifty play to retire Juan Lagares for the final out. As Escobar sprinted past him, Cueto exchanged a flamboyant high five with the shortstop.
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