Royals’ Chris Young pitched strong, but Mets’ Noah ‘Thor’ Syndergaard was that much better

The championship rings sat on a table along the first-base line inside Kauffman Stadium. Members of the first World Series-winning team to call Kansas City home in three decades filed toward the jewelry as their names were announced.

With one notable exception.

As a sellout crowd stood and cheered its championship team, Royals starting pitcher Chris Young cycled through his arsenal of pitches in the left-field bullpen.

“For me, the focus was going out and giving the team a chance to win,” Young said. “Certainly, it’s a tremendous day, a great day for our organization, for our players, coaches, fans, everyone in Kansas City. But ultimately, I had a responsibility to my team to go out and try to help us win a game. I didn’t want any distractions.”

Young ultimately lost his season debut, lasting five innings in a 2-0 loss to the Mets on Tuesday. But that was more of a product of the other man on the mound. Mets starter Noah Syndergaard threw six shutout innings. Young allowed two runs — both on Neil Walker’s blast in the fourth inning.

Royals manager Ned Yost said the team offered Young a chance to be the first player to receive his ring so he could turn his attention to his start immediately afterward. Instead, he elected to skip the ceremony altogether.

After the game, Yost and general manager Dayton Moore presented Young with his championship ring in the locker room.

“That’s what makes him so special — his competitiveness,” Yost said.

Young, who won Game 1 of the World Series against the Mets last fall, was forced to throw on three days’ rest Tuesday after Ian Kennedy’s start was pushed back due to a hamstring issue.

The Mets tagged him for just three hits, but one of them left the ballpark. Young said he missed his location on a fastball to Walker; he attempted to throw it on the outside corner only to have it float across the plate.

And that one mistake was enough for Syndergaard.

“I thought Chris threw the ball really, really well. He got a pitch elevated that (Walker) hit out of the ballpark,” Yost said. “(But) he did everything that we needed him to do — keep us in the ballgame through five or six, and we’ll see if we can develop some run-scoring opportunities.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Royals’ Chris Young pitched strong, but Mets’ Noah ‘Thor’ Syndergaard was that much better."