First pitch: Saturday, 8:07 p.m. ET
World Series – Game 4
Line: Kansas City +115, New York -125, Total: 7.5

The Mets will be looking to even up the series when they host the Royals in Game 4 on Saturday.

New York was desperate for a victory in Game 3 and the team was able to come away with a 9-3 victory that brought it right back into this series. The key to the Mets’ win just might have been the play of 3B David Wright (.196, 1 HR, 7 RBI in playoffs). The Mets really needed Wright to break out of his slump and he did just that in Game 3, going 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBI. He’ll need to keep it up the rest of the way. The starters in this pivotal Game 4 are going to be RHP Chris Young (8-6, 3.21 ERA, 70 K) for the Royals and LHP Steven Matz (4-1, 2.58 ERA, 42 K) for the Mets. Both pitchers will be hoping to avoid what might be a fourth consecutive Over in this series. Kansas City will feel confident with Young on the mound, as the team is 8-2 against the money line in road games with Young starting. New York, meanwhile, improved to 18-1 against the money line as a home favorite of -125 to -150 on the year. 2B Omar Infante (Oblique) is out for the season for Kansas City and SS Ruben Tejada (Leg) is out for the year for New York.

The Royals have Chris Young starting on Saturday and the team really wants to avoid a 2-2 series after jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Young has been nothing but reliable for the Royals in this postseason, allowing just three earned runs in 11.2 innings of work. He will need to continue to pitch well and that starts with his big outing on Saturday and will likely continue with some extra work out of the bullpen later in the series. Offensively, Kansas City can use a big boost from OF Lorenzo Cain (.241, 1 HR, 7 RBI in playoffs) in this game. He has not had a multi-hit game since Game 4 against Toronto and the team really needs him to start playing like the superstar he is. He did hit .335 against lefties during the regular season, so a meeting with Matz could be just what the doctor ordered.

Steven Matz has pitched very well in his first taste of playoff action this year, allowing just four earned runs in 9.2 innings of work. He has also struck out eight batters in that span. Now he must face an excellent hitting Royals team and he has the opportunity to even up the series for New York on Saturday. One guy to keep an eye on offensively in this game is OF Curtis Granderson (.283, 2 HR, 10 RBI in playoffs). Granderson had a homer and two RBI in Game 3 of this series and has now homered in two of the past three games. He has gotten a hit in three of the past four games, but Game 3 was his first multi-hit performance since Oct. 12. New York will be hoping that Friday’s game gets him going for the rest of this series in a big way.