Royals hoist championship flag, take down Mets 4-3 in season opener

In the hours before the championship flag was flying above Kauffman Stadium, before the starting catcher had thrown someone out from his knees and the center fielder kept sprinting first to third and the crowd had chanted the starting pitcher’s name, Eric Hosmer stood in front of his locker inside the Royals’ clubhouse on Sunday afternoon.

In fewer than four hours, the Royals would begin the season with a 4-3 victory over the New York Mets, reveling in one title while dreaming of another. But in the afternoon quiet of the clubhouse, in a nearly empty room, Hosmer looked at a row of cameras and notepads and offered a four-word summation of his team’s plans in 2016.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he said.

Sam Mellinger: The grind can wait: The Royals had celebrating to do, and they did it in style

So consider Sunday night a warning shot, a reminder of which team owned the American League the last two seasons. Five months ago, the Royals hoisted the World Series trophy at Citi Field in New York. On Sunday, they handled the club they dispatched last fall.

“They know what they can accomplish,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They have the experience and the talent to do it. Now they just have to get through the season.”

As the Royals raised a championship banner for the first time in three decades, they offered a formula that was equal parts potent and familiar. They stymied the Mets with a sterling defensive effort and punished them with an aggressive, opportunistic style. Starting pitcher Edinson Volquez was brilliant over six scoreless innings, earning the victory. The only intrigue lingered after Joakim Soria wobbled during a taxing eighth inning, surrendering three runs. Luke Hochevar bailed out Soria by striking out Asdrubal Cabrera to end the eighth. Closer Wade Davis restored order in an adventurous ninth, striking out David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes with the tying runner on third.

Vahe Gregorian: Just like old times, Edinson Volquez sets tone for Royals’ victory over Mets

Davis likened the final moments to the first round of a boxing match. Opening Day jitters are worse than anything, Davis said, even the World Series. As he stood on the mound on Sunday, he was just thinking of survival.

“That first round, you don’t know if you’re gonna get knocked out in the first couple seconds or be able to hang on,” Davis said.

Davis held firm. So did the Royals. It is only one game, of course, and a night of baseball can only say so much. But as the Royals began the season on an idyllic night in Kansas City, they seemed intent on delivering a statement. Forget PECOTA. Forget the projections. For the perils of sustaining success. These are indeed the same old Royals, and in 2016, that statement means something different than you remember.

Joakim Soria has a rough return to the Royals

“Good team win,” Hosmer said.

On Sunday, it meant Hosmer piling up three hits against Mets starter Matt Harvey. It meant Lorenzo Cain reaching base three times and scoring two runs. It meant Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and catcher Salvador Perez coming up with inning-ending defensive gems to keep the Mets’ offense at bay in the early innings. It meant the Royals conjuring the magic from last fall — save for one forgettable debut from Soria, who was returning to the Royals after three seasons away.

“Just as a team, you feel really good about the win because you know our bullpen is not going to do that many nights,” Hosmer said.

Mets seek fresh start, but Royals serve them an unwanted reminder

On Sunday morning, as Kansas City prepared for an opener, Yost arrived in his office at Kauffman Stadium. He dusted off a three-ring binder that had remained closed all offseason. Yost totes the binder everywhere during the regular season, using it to store scouting reports, pitching charts and other data. As he cracked it open Sunday, he found the intel from the 2015 World Series. The Mets’ reports were still inside.

“It feels like we didn’t have a winter,” Yost said on Sunday afternoon.

Five months and two days after the final game of the World Series, the Royals and Mets were back at Kauffman Stadium, where the evening began with a prolonged toast. About 37 minutes before first pitch, both teams streamed onto the foul lines for introductions, recreating a ceremony from five months earlier. Hundreds of blue, white and gold balloons were released into the air. Highlights from the 2015 World Series played on the Crown Vision video board. And at 7:13 p.m., as 43,030 fans watched in rapture, two Kansas City firefighters, Dan Werner and Chris Anderson, stood atop the Royals Hall of Fame in left field, raising the city’s second World Series championship flag.

The moment distilled the remarkable transformation of a franchise into a span of seven seconds. As the Royals stood along the first-base line, they reflected on one breakthrough and pondered the chance for more over the next seven months. Hosmer said the sight of the firefighters gave him chills.

What came next was vintage Royals. They opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, taking an advantage of a defensive blunder from Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes. Five months after Cespedes played a fly ball into a World Seres series-opening inside-the-parker, he dropped a sinking liner off the bat of Moustakas. Cain followed with a walk. Hosmer drove in Moustakas by chopping a well-placed ground ball through the hole at shortstop.

The Royals chopped away at Harvey once more in the bottom of the fourth. Cain led off with a sharp single to center field and raced first to third on another single from Hosmer. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales scored Cain on a sacrifice fly, stretching the lead to 2-0. The Royals tacked on two more runs against Harvey in the bottom of the sixth, chasing him from the game as the fans in Kauffman Stadium reveled in the rally.

The offense was enough to support Volquez, who exited to a standing ovation and a chant of "Eddie, Eddie!" at the end of the sixth inning. It was enough to quiet the visiting Mets. In the weeks before the season opener, the former World Series foes had participated in a verbal sparring session that bordered on passive-aggressive — and drifted into the covert. Mets first baseman Lucas Duda chirped at Royals first base coach Rusty Kuntz over comments he made during last year’s World Series. The Royals shrugged off reports that they were considering retribution for Noah Syndergaard’s purpose pitch again Alcides Escobar in Game 3.

“I know everybody has been talking about the Mets and Kansas City,” Volquez said. “So we faced one of the toughest pitchers in baseball tonight and we won the game.”

Edinson Volquez on his 106-pitch start in Royals' 4-3 win 

For one night, no retribution was necessary. The players offered a message with their play. The swaggering, snarling, relentless Royals were back for another run.

“The chemistry on our team is phenomenal,” Yost said. “Our will to win is tremendous. Our guys, they play to win. They’re not afraid to make mistakes.”

Royals 4, Mets 3

a-grounded into a fielder’s choice for Lagares in the 9th. 1-ran for d’Arnaud in the 9th.

E: Cespedes (1). LOB: New York 9, Kansas City 5. 2B: Conforto (1). RBIs: Duda 2 (2), N.Walker (1), Hosmer (1), K.Morales (1), A.Gordon (1), Infante (1). SB: A.Escobar (1). CS: Conforto (1). SF: K.Morales.

Runners left in scoring position: New York 5 (d’Arnaud 2, Duda, A.Cabrera, Cespedes); Kansas City 4 (K.Morales, Moustakas 2, Fuentes). RISP: New York 1 for 10; Kansas City 3 for 7. Runners moved up: A.Cabrera. GIDP: K.Morales 2, A.Gordon. DP: New York 3 (N.Walker, A.Cabrera, Duda), (Duda, A.Cabrera, Harvey), (N.Walker, A.Cabrera, Duda).

Hold: Hochevar (1). Inherited runners-scored: B.Colon 2-1, Hochevar 2-0. PB: d’Arnaud.

Umpires: Home, Gerry Davis; First, Sam Holbrook; Second, Rob Drake; Third, Carlos Torres. Time: 3:13. Att: 40,030.

This story was originally published April 3, 2016 at 10:55 PM with the headline "Royals hoist championship flag, take down Mets 4-3 in season opener."