DYK: Royals take World Series crown to KC
It had been 30 years since the Royals won their last World Series championship, a span of 10,962 days. But after one last dramatic comeback in the ninth inning -- their eighth comeback victory this postseason -- the Royals stormed past the Mets with a five-run 12th and clinched their first World Series title since 1985 with a 7-2 win over the Mets on Sunday night at Citi Field.
The Mets carried a two-run lead into the ninth inning, but the Royals scored two to tie it up and force extras. Kansas City's lights-out bullpen held on, as it did throughout the postseason, setting up the Royals' championship-clinching rally.
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Here are some notable facts and figures from Game 5.
• The Royals are the first team since the 1989 A's, and the 15th team ever, to win the World Series after losing it the prior season.
• This was Kansas City's eighth comeback win of the postseason. Seven of those came in games in which it trailed by multiple runs, surpassing the previous postseason record of five set by the 1996 Yankees. The Royals are also the first team to win three World Series games in which they trailed in the eighth inning or later, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
• The Royals outscored their opponents, 51-11, from the seventh inning on this postseason. They scored 40 runs in the eighth inning or later, including all seven of their runs in Game 5.
• This was the first World Series since 2001 with two extra-inning games. It was the second World Series, along with the 1924 Fall Classic (Games 1 and 7), to feature multiple games of at least 12 innings. The Royals won Game 1 in 14 innings.
The Royals' five-run win was the biggest gap ever in an extra-innings World Series game, passing the previous mark of three, done five times and most recently in Game 2 of the 1973 Fall Classic (Mets 10, A's 7).
• This was the eighth World Series to be clinched in an extra-inning game. The Giants were the last to do so, capturing the championship in extras in Game 4 in 2012. The others to clinch a Fall Classic in extra innings: the 1997 Marlins, 1992 Blue Jays, 1991 Twins, 1939 Yankees, 1933 New York Giants and 1924 Washington Senators.
• Christian Colon drove in the series-winning run with an RBI single in the 12th inning. It was Colon's first plate appearance of the postseason and his first at-bat since Oct. 4. Colon's last RBI came on Sept. 20.
Colon, drafted three spots ahead of Mets starter Matt Harvey in 2010, has two postseason hits, both of them in the 12th inning. The other one? The game-tying RBI single in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game.
Video: Perez receives World Series MVP Award in presentation
• Royals catcher Salvador Perez was named the World Series' Most Valuable Player presented by Chevrolet. He is the second Venezuelan-born player to be named MVP, joining Pablo Sandoval, who won it for the Giants in 2012. It's worth noting that Sandoval caught Perez's popup for the final out of Game 7 in the 2014 World Series.
• Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar hit an RBI double in the 12th inning, extending his postseason hitting streak to 15 games -- the longest in Royals history and the longest in a single postseason overall, surpassing Manny Ramirez (2004) and Marquis Grissom (1995).
Escobar also set a new record for the most hits in a single postseason by a shortstop, with 23, surpassing Derek Jeter, who had 22 in three different postseason runs.
• The Royals hit only two home runs in the World Series. Last's years Giants title team also hit two, and the 2006 Cardinals, 2003 Marlins, 1996 Yankees and 1973 A's are the only other teams to hit two homers while winning a World Series in the DH era.
Going back to the beginning of the Live Ball Era, the 1935 Tigers and 1946 Cardinals each won a World Series while hitting one home run. No team has won a World Series without a home run during the Live Ball Era.
• The Royals stole seven bases in the World Series, the most since the Phillies and Rays each swiped seven in 2008. Lorenzo Cain stole two bases in Game 5, the first Royals player and the first overall since Johnny Damon in 2009 to have multiple steals in a World Series game.
Cain set a new single-postseason record for the Royals with six steals, passing Alex Gordon, Amos Otis and Willie Wilson's previous record of four.
• Mets closer Jeurys Familia is the first pitcher to ever have three blown saves in a World Series, yet he only allowed one earned run. Familia is the first pitcher with three blown saves in one postseason since Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in 2004.
• The Royals' bullpen went 3-0 with a save and a 1.90 ERA in the World Series, recording 30 strikeouts with only four walks in 23 2/3 innings. Closer Wade Davis led the way, going 4-for-4 in postseason save opportunities. Davis has not allowed an earned run in his past 15 postseason appearances dating back to Game 1 of the 2014 AL Championship Series.
• What's next? The Mets and defending World Series champion Royals will open the 2016 regular season at Kauffman Stadium on April 4.