*Photo from UPI.com*
Continuing on with the champions of the 2010's, the 2015 Kansas City Royals are next.
The Royals shocked baseball in 2014, when they went on a magical run to the world series, but they couldn't cross the finish line, losing in game 7 to the San Francisco Giants. In 2015, the Royals were ready for redemption. They built their success off of small ball. Home runs were good, but they weren't necessary. It was all about getting on base, and keeping the chain rolling with strings of hits to bring in runs rather than to just mash balls out of the park. That strategy certainly worked. The Royals won the AL Central in 2015 with a 95-67 record to clinch their second straight playoff appearance.
First up in the ALDS was the Houston Astros, who had a resurgence themselves. Game one was a close fight, but Collin McHugh ultimately outpitched Yordano Ventura and the Astros won 5-2. In a close game two, the Royals bounced back and tied the series with a 5-4 win. When the series shifted to Houston, the Astros took the series lead again with a 4-2 win thanks to a great start by Dallas Keuchel. In game 4, the Royals faced elimination, but forced the series back to Kansas City with a 9-6 win. In the do or die game 5, the Royals rose to the occasion and out dueled the Astros to advance to the ALCS with a 7-2 win.
In the ALCS, the Royals squared off against the AL East winning Toronto Blue Jays. Game one however, was all Royals, as Edinson Volquez threw a beauty and the Royals won 5-0. Game two was closer, but the Royals came out on top again thanks to a good start from Danny Duffy in a 6-3 win. When the series shifted to Canada, the Blue Jays managed to bounce back, with both teams offenses breaking out, but the Jays held off the Royals with an 11-8 win. Game 4 was no contest, as the Royals blew Toronto away, cruising to a 14-2 win. The Blue Jays managed to stay alive in game 5 with a 7-1 win, but when the series shifted back to Kansas City for game 6, the Royals won a close one by a 4-3 score to clinch the AL Pennant and advance to the World Series for the second straight year.
In the 2015 World Series, the Royals faced off against the NL champs in the New York Mets, who won the NL East with a 90-72 record and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs in the playoffs. Game one was a tough, close game, going 14 innings long, but the Royals prevailed in walkoff fashion with a 5-4 win. In game 2, the Royals took a 2-0 series lead with a 7-1 win thanks to a great start by Johnny Cueto. When the series went to Queens for game 3, the Mets bounced back and won 9-3 on a good start by Noah Syndergaard. In game 4 on Halloween Night, the Royals put the Mets on the brink of elimination with a 5-3 win. Game 5 was long and hard fought, neither side willing to give an inch. It went 12 innings, but the Royals came out on top with a 7-2 win with a 5 run outburst in the 12th to give them the world series title.
People were surprised when the Royals came out of nowhere in 2014, and they were surprised when they won it all in 2015. The Royals relied on small ball all season, stringing together hits in bunches, and sometimes, that's better than hitting homers, because homers don't single handedly win playoff games, teamwork does. The Royals showed that they were better than the Mets at that aspect, and that's what took them over the top.
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