First pitch: Friday, 8:07 p.m. ET
World Series – Game 3
Line: Kansas City +130, New York -140, Total: 7

The Mets will be looking to avoid a 3-0 series deficit when they host the Royals in Game 3 on Friday.

Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the series thanks to Johnny Cueto pitching an absolute gem of a game on Wednesday. The Royals pitcher went the distance in the outing, allowing just one earned run in a 7-1 victory. New York is now in a must win situation on Friday, as it’d be nearly impossible to win four games in a row against a Royals team that just does not beat itself with mistakes. Game 3 will feature some serious power pitching, as RHP Yordano Ventura (13-9, 4.18 ERA, 177 K) of the Royals will take on RHP Noah Syndergaard (10-8, 3.33 ERA, 184 K) of the Mets. Kansas City’s victory on Wednesday makes the team 4-1 against New York over the past three seasons and three of those five contests have gone Over the total. One trend that seriously favors the Royals in this game is the fact that the team is 20-8 against the money line in the postseason over the past two seasons. The team is also 8-1 against the money line when Yordano Ventura is on the mound in October in that span. The Mets, however, are an absurd 17-1 against the money line as a home favorite of -125 to -150 this season. 2B Omar Infante (Oblique) is out for the season for the Royals and SS Ruben Tejada (Knee) is out for the season for the Mets. Outside of those injuries, both teams are relatively healthy coming into this one.

Yordano Ventura is going to be on the mound for the Royals in Game 3 and with a 2-0 lead in the series, he should be rather calm on the mound. This will help Ventura, who occasionally gets a bit nervous in big starts. Kansas City has won in all three of Ventura’s starts in the postseason, and he was excellent in his most recent outing against the Blue Jays. He pitched 5.1 innings in that game and gave up just one earned run and struck out five batters. He will need to miss some more bats against New York on Friday. Offensively, the Royals have SS Alcides Escobar (.364, 1 HR, 8 RBI in playoffs) and 1B Eric Hosmer (.231, 1 HR, 15 RBI in playoffs) coming into this contest as hot as could be. Escobar was 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBI in Game 2 and has now safely hit in every single playoff game for the Royals. Hosmer, meanwhile, has two RBI in two straight contests and has driven in a run in all but one of the Royals’ postseason games thus far. His average is a bit lower than he’d like, but he is coming through when his team needs him to and should be able to keep that up as the series progresses.

The Mets are desperate for a victory heading into Game 3 and Noah Syndergaard will have to deliver in order to keep his team’s championship hopes alive. Syndergaard was big in his most recent start against Chicago, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just one earned run with nine strikeouts. He has fanned 28 batters over his past three starts and will be looking to rack up some more strikeouts on Friday, but it could be tough against a Royals team that really knows how to make contact. If the Mets are going to claw their way back into this series then the team will need a lot more from 3B David Wright (.171, 0 HR, 3 RBI in playoffs). Wright has gone hitless in eight of the Mets’ 11 playoff games and he is supposed to be the reliable veteran in this lineup. He needs to get himself back on track with a big performance in Game 3. 2B Daniel Murphy (.383, 7 HR, 11 RBI in playoffs) was unable to get a hit for New York in Game 2, marking the first time that happened in the postseason so far. The Mets could really use another big performance out of him on Friday.