Mets vs. Royals Recap: Murphy's error leads to an all-time bad Mets loss in Game 4 of World Series

The Mets suffered one of the worst losses in recent memory last night in Game 4 of the World Series. With one out in the eighth inning, nobody on, and a one-run lead, they were five outs away from catching up to the Royals and tying the series at two games apiece. Things unraveled quickly from there.

Tyler Clippard, who had started the inning and retired the first batter he faced on a harmless comebacker, walked the next two batters he faced. Terry Collins called upon Jeurys Familia. He induced a slow ground ball to second base from Eric Hosmer, and hero of the first two rounds of the postseason Daniel Murphy got only a piece of it as it rolled under his glove and far enough past him that the runner who had been on second base scored.

That left the crowd at Citi Field stunned, and a Mike Moustakas single that gave Kansas City a 4-3 lead only deepened the silence. Salvador Perez singled, too, to make it a 5-3 lead.

Kansas City then turned to Wade Davis in the bottom of the eighth for a six-out save. He retired the side in order in that inning, but the Mets threatened in the ninth with back-to-back one-out singles from Daniel Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes. But Lucas Duda hit an awkward, soft line drive to third base, which Mike Moustakas caught before throwing to first base to double off Cespedes to end the game. It was a tough spot for Cespedes, as Moustakas could have gotten two outs the way he did—or if the ball had dropped in front of him, with the slow Duda running to first base.

Before the gut punch, Michael Conforto hit a pair of solo home runs, one of which was an absolute bomb. Steven Matz dominated for a few innings before giving up a run in the fifth and another in the sixth. Terry Collins then turned things over to Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon, who combined to get through that inning. Addison Reed pitched a sharp seventh.

But the Mets are down 3-1 in the World Series. In a season defined by winning streaks, they have no choice but to start another in Game 5 tonight. Matt Harvey takes the mound for the good guys. If they can pull off a win, the series will go back to Kansas City for Game 6 on Tuesday.

SB Nation GameThreads

* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Royals Review GameThread

Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Michael Conforto, +23.9% WPA
Big losers: Jeurys Familia, -55.5% WPA, Lucas Duda, -20.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Conforto’s solo bomb in the third, +13.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Murphy’s error, -34.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -48.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: -2.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Mike Moustakas