Royals fired up after Game Three loss to Mets

By Michael Erman NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Kansas City Royals were riled up following a 9-3 loss in Game Three of the World Series on Friday because New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard knocked down shortstop Alcides Escobar with the first pitch of the game. "The whole team was pretty upset. The first pitch of the game goes whizzing by our leadoff man's head," Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas said. "All 25 guys in that dugout were pretty fired up." Escobar sprawled out on the ground to avoid the pitch, which Syndergaard later acknowledged throwing high and inside in order to "make a statement." "In that situation everyone is just looking for a strike," Escobar said after the game. "The first pitch around my head, that's not good. That's not 87 (miles per hour) - That's 98." The pitch set the tone for the game, in which the teams traded leads in the early innings, before the Mets pulled away. The Royals now hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Kansas City's performance was marred by defensive misplays, including relief pitcher Franklin Morales' inability to throw out a baserunner on a routine grounder to the mound by Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson during a four-run sixth inning. It was an out-of-character performance for a squad considered by many to be one of the best fielding teams in baseball. "They did a good job of capitalizing on our mistakes," said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer. "Hopefully we got them all out of the way tonight, and come back tomorrow and play a clean game." Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura, who excelled in the World Series last year with a 1.46 earned run average in two starts, was not at his best, throwing only three and a third innings and giving up five runs. "The ball wasn't coming out of his hand very good today," Moustakas said. "Usually he's got a little more fuzz, a little more action on it." Still, Ventura showed no lack of bravado when asked if the Royals can close out the series in New York. "There's two more games here and I know we can get it done here. We play hard and I don't expect it to go back to Kansas City," he said. (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Larry Fine)