Royals rally in eighth to take 3-1 series lead

NEW YORK (AP) — Second baseman Daniel Murphy was a huge reason for the New York Mets' ability to beat the Dodgers and Cubs en route to the National League pennant. On Saturday, it was Murphy's error that helped the resilient Kansas City Royals put together a three-run eighth in a 5-3 triumph over the Mets at Citi Field. The rally gives the Royals a three-games-to-one lead in the World Series.

World Series - Kansas City Royals v New York Mets - Game Four
Getty Images
loading...

Rookie Michael Conforto's second solo homer of the night put New York ahead 3-1 in the fifth, but the Royals scored once the following inning and rallied against Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia in the eighth. Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain worked out one-out walks against Clippard before Familiar got Eric Hosmer to hit a grounder that skipped underneath Murphy's glove for a game-tying error. Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez followed with RBI singles to make it 5-3.

Perez had three of the Royals' nine hits, while Zobrist scored twice.

The Mets had a chance to win it in the ninth after Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes hit one-out singles off Royals closer Wade Davis. Cespedes then elected to take off for second on Lucas Duda's soft liner to Moustakas at third. Moustakas grabbed the liner near his shoetops and had no trouble doubling off Cespedes at first for the final putout.

It was Familia's second blown save of the series. The last pitcher to blow two saves in a single World Series was Ryan Madson, who worked a perfect seventh on Saturday to pick up the victory.

The Royals can claim their second World Series title, and first in 30 years, as early as Sunday night in New York. Kansas City will send Edinson Volquez to the hill against Matt Harvey in a rematch of Game 1 starters.

T25-SCHEDULE

Irish get past Temple

UNDATED (AP) — The Temple Owls came very close to winning the biggest football game in school history. Instead, ninth-ranked Notre Dame kept its national championship hopes alive while handing the 21st-rated Owls their first loss of the season.

DeShone Kizer hit Will Fuller for a 17-yard touchdown with 2:09 remaining to erase Notre Dame's 20-17 deficit in a 24-20 triumph at Philadelphia. Kizer finished with 299 yards passing and had a 79-yard touchdown run for the Irish.

Temple still had a chance to pull out the victory until KeiVarae Russell picked off a pass to end the last threat. Austin Jones hit a 36-yard field goal with 4:45 to put the Owls ahead before the Irish improved to 7-1.

Eighth-ranked Stanford almost suffered its first Pac 12 loss before Kevin Hogan rallied the Cardinal from a 15-3 deficit in a 30-28 win at Washington State. Hogan had touchdown runs of 59 and six yards to help Stanford go ahead 27-22, but the Cardinal needed Conrad Ukropina's short field goal with 1:54 remaining to take the lead for good.

The Cougars marched down to the Stanford 27 with four seconds left before Erik Powell missed a 43-yard field goal as time expired, allowing the Cardinal to improve to 7-1 overall.

The best finish on the top-25 schedule occurred at Duke as Corn Elder took Miami's eighth lateral of a wild final kickoff return and brought it back 75 yards for a touchdown to give the Hurricanes a 30-27 victory over No. 22 Blue Devils.

Thomas Sirk seemingly had given the Blue Devils the win by scoring on a sneak with 6 seconds left. But in a final sequence reminiscent of California's unforgettable run through the Stanford band, Elder caught the last of eight laterals, and zigged and zagged through the Duke coverage team for the score.

In other top 25 action:

— Deshaun Watson accounted for six touchdowns to help third-ranked Clemson pull away in a 56-41 win over the Wolfpack at North Carolina State. Watson threw for 383 yards and five scores, and he also ran for 54 yards and a touchdown to help the Tigers improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the ACC.

— Desmond King had an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to help 10th-ranked Iowa beat Maryland 31-15 and improve to 8-0. Akrum Wadley, LeShun Daniels and Derrick Mitchell had touchdown runs for the Hawkeyes, who enter November unbeaten for just the second time in 17 seasons under coach Kirk Ferentz.

— Kelvin Taylor ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns to lead 11th-ranked Florida's 27-3 stifling of Georgia. The Gators allowed just 223 total yards in taking another step toward a berth in the SEC championship game.

— No. 13 Utah beat Oregon State 27-12 behind Devontae Booker's 121 rushing yards and one touchdown. Utes quarterback Travis Wilson completed 14 of his 17 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown.

— Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh each threw for two touchdowns and Raymond Taylor ran for two others as No. 12 Oklahoma State came from behind to beat Texas Tech 70-53. Walsh found James Washington twice in the fourth quarter, one for 75 yards and then for 73 yards to seal the win for the 8-0 Cowboys.

— No. 14 Oklahoma crushed Kansas 62-7 as Baker Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes for 383 yards and four touchdowns. Sterling Shepard had 11 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown for the 7-1 Sooners, while Samaje Perine added 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.

— No. 15 Michigan stopped Mitch Leidner on a sneak as time expired to escape with a 29-26 victory over Minnesota. Wilton Speight came off the bench and threw a go-ahead, 12-yard touchdown pass to Jehu Chesson with under 5 minutes to play.

— Paxton Lynch threw for 343 yards and a touchdown as 16th-ranked Memphis slammed Tulane 41-13 to improve to 8-0. Doroland Dorceus, Anthony Miller and Jarvis Cooper each ran for a TD after the Tigers fell behind 13-0.

— Sean Maguire subbed for the injured Everett Golson and threw three touchdown passes to Travis Rudolph in No. 17 Florida State's 45-21 win over Syracuse. Maguire was 23-of-35 for 348 yards, while Rudolph caught five throws for 181 yards.

— No. 18 Houston forced four turnovers in a 34-0 romp over Vanderbilt. Greg Ward Jr. ran for a touchdown and was 15 of 23 for 221 yards and another score.

— Chad Kelly threw for two second half touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter to Laquon Treadwell as No. 19 Mississippi held off Auburn 27-19. Kelly completed 33 of 51 passes for 381 yards for the 7-2 Rebels, who improved to 4-1 in the SEC West.

— UCLA coughed up an 18-point lead before Soso Jamabo rushed for the go-ahead touchdown with 8:28 to play to lift the 24th-rated Bruins past Colorado 35-31.

T25-OHIO STATE-BARRETT

Buckeyes suspend quarterback

UNDATED (AP) — Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett has been suspended for the top-ranked Buckeyes' next game after being cited with a misdemeanor offense of operating a vehicle under the influence.

Ohio State says in a statement Barrett was stopped at a Columbus police check point early Saturday morning.

The 8-0 Buckeyes are off this weekend and play at home against Minnesota next Saturday.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Curry's 53 lead Warriors

UNDATED (AP) — The defending NBA champions are off to a 3-0 start.

Stephen Curry poured in 53 points and took over the game with a 28-point third quarter before the Golden State Warriors completed a 134-120 win at New Orleans. Curry outscored all the Pelicans by two points in the third period, giving the reigning NBA MVP a career high for scoring in a quarter.

Curry also hit eight of his 14 three-point heaves and contributed nine assists and four steals.

Draymond Green scored 21 points and Klay Thompson added 19 for the Warriors.

Also in the NBA:

— The Clippers are 3-0 after they rode Blake Griffin's 37 points, nine rebounds and six assists to a 114-109 triumph against Sacramento.

— Phoenix got 60 points from its starting guards as Eric Bledsoe delivered 33 points and Brandon Knight added 27 in a 101-90 victory over Portland.

— Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points and the Knicks ruined Washington's home opener by downing the Wizards 117-110.

— Derrick Favors contributed 18 points and the Utah outscored Indiana by 33 in the second half of a 97-76 rout of the Pacers.

— Mike Conley scored 10 straight points in the fourth quarter and finished with 22 and eight assists as Memphis downed Brooklyn 101-91.

NHL-SCHEDULE

Stars, Blues keep winning

UNDATED (AP) — The Dallas Stars sit atop the NHL's Western Conference at 9-2 following their eighth victory in nine games.

Antoine Roussel scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:27 remaining and collected two assists as the Stars downed San Jose 5-3. Vernon Fiddler and Tyler Seguin each added a goal and two assists in the Stars' third consecutive home win.

Seguin has 16 points this season, one behind league-leading teammate Jamie Benn.

The St. Louis Blues are just one point behind the West-leading Stars following a 3-2 overtime win against Minnesota. David Backes opened the scoring 2:47 after the opening faceoff and won it at 4:26 of OT.

In other NHL play:

— Washington is 8-2 after beating Florida 2-1 on an overtime goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov 3:44 into overtime.

— Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr (fahr) each had a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 shots in Pittsburgh's 4-0 shutout of struggling Toronto. It was Fleury's 40th career shutout.

— Brett Connolly's power-play goal snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period of Boston's 3-1 win over Tampa Bay. The Bruins are 5-0-0 on the road.

— Danny DeKeyser, Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist each provided a goal and an assist in Detroit's 5-3 win against Ottawa.

— Winnipeg knocked off Columbus 3-1 as Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler each scored once and had an assist during the Jets' three-goal first period.

— Tyler Toffoli (tah-FOH'-lee) scored twice before Jeff Carter's goal at 4:42 of overtime lifted Los Angeles over Nashville 4-3.

— Mike Cammalleri and Jacob Josefson scored shootout goals as New Jersey won for the sixth time in seven games, 3-2 over the Islanders.

— Michael Frolik completed a hat trick by scoring the game-winner with just 8.7 seconds left in Calgary's 5-4 win at Edmonton.

GOLF-CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR

Waldorf shoots 60 to take lead

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Duffy Waldorf came close to shooting the second 59 in Champions Tour history.

Waldorf missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th and settled for an 11-under 60 to take the lead through two rounds of the Toshiba Classic in California. Waldorf tied the course record set by Tom Purtzer in 2004 and matched by Nick Price in 2011. He has a three-stroke lead over defending champion Fred Couples.

FORMULA ONE-MEXICAN GRAND PRIX

Rosberg grabs Mexican GP pole

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to the pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton won last week's United States Grand Prix, which clinched Hamilton's third season championship.

Rosberg is battling Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel for second in the driver's standings with three races to go. Vettel will start third Sunday.

 

More From KROC-AM