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MLB WORLD SERIES: METS VS ROYALS

October 28, 2015

Eric Hosmer

Kansas City, Missouri - Royals postgame two

Royals - 7 Mets - 1

Q. How are you guys feeling right now? Cueto, did you see that coming from him? As the thing went on, what were you guys feeling and what was the feeling like in the clubhouse there?
ERIC HOSMER: It's a great feeling. This is why we pitch for home-field advantage so hard. We've got to take care of business here at home. We know we're going to head into a tough environment over there in New York. It was important for us to take these two.

As far as Johnny, he was electric tonight. He feeds off this crowd's energy. He wasn't going to go back out there in the 9th unless we got two runs right there. The offense and all the boys in the dugout really wanted to see him go out and finish it. We were glad we put up those two runs so he could go out and finish the job.

Q. With the way this team just keeps winning, keeps the line moving, Gordon's home run yesterday certainly spectacular. Do you just wait for it to happen?
ERIC HOSMER: Yeah, I just think as a team and especially off a guy like deGrom, you know anytime you've got him on the ropes, anytime you have opportunities with guys on base, you've got to make the most out of it.

Facing a guy like that you might not get many opportunities like that, so I just think as a team we all realize how important it is and you just really see everybody bear down, put together good at-bats and fight off tough pitchers' pitches, and hope for him to leave it out over the plate so we can do some damage on it.

Q. Your splits batting with nobody on and batting with runners on, your splits are profound. What is it about runners on base that seems to bring out the best in your swing?
ERIC HOSMER: I just try and be aggressive. I just try and get something good early to hit and not miss it. With these guys, with the stuff that they're featuring on the mound, you can't afford to get in a hole with these guys.

That's one thing we're consciously trying to do as an offense, get good pitches and not miss them. Because a guy like deGrom, a guy like Harvey, it's too hard to be deep in the count on them, because how effective their pitches are, and how much more effective they make them when they have two strikes.

Q. You talk all the time about having each others' backs and picking each other up. Aside from the obvious with getting the win tonight, how good did you feel for Johnny after what he went through in Toronto to come up with a complete game?
ERIC HOSMER: It felt great. Last night we had to burn the bullpen pretty good. For him to come out and throw a complete game, and really save Herrera, Wade and those guys down there, and getting them two days off heading to New York is huge. That's what an ace does.

When you realize that your bullpen is pretty much spent and they're pretty much burned out, he pretty much went out there and put the team on his back and made Wade and Herrera just have a day off and get them those two full days heading into New York.

Q. Were you surprised at all that there wasn't a replay challenge in the fourth inning on that throw?
ERIC HOSMER: Yeah, it's close, you know. But obviously the playoffs you have two. So it's an opportunity where you can maybe try and take a chance and see if it works or not.

But at that point in time you realize you've got to score one to win, anyway. As an offense we had to do anything we can to figure out how to get to deGrom. And just glad it worked out for us.

Q. Ned likes to joke about the Esky magic, but when you look at it and see a guy whose strength is not getting on base, as the leadoff hitter for a club in the World Series, what's he doing? What makes this work?
ERIC HOSMER: He's just a spark plug at the top of the lineup. I think everyone knows he goes up there hacking, especially the first time through. And when you look at his at-bats later on in the game, no matter what the situation is, you can just really see him adjust to whatever he needs to do. Whether it's get guys over or guys on third with less than two outs, really just see the adjustment in his swing. You see him trying to shorten up, put the ball in play, if the infield is back. I think he's a really good situational hitter.

Obviously the first pitch and the first at-bat of the game is quite impressive, what he's doing with that. But when you look at all of his other at-bats throughout the game he just does a really good job adjusting to the situation.

Q. You make such a big deal of Postseason experience, World Series experience. Now up two, zip, having gone through what you went through last year, what did you learn from that as this thing now goes back to New York?
ERIC HOSMER: You realize nothing is over. You realize the series is far from over. There's still a lot of work yet to do. Last year we took a 2-1 lead in San Francisco and were feeling pretty good about ourselves, and we had a three-run lead in the next game.

You have to realize as a team, as an offense, you've got to keep your foot on the gas and keep pushing because that team with that staff, they have the ability to rail off a couple of good outings in a row, and their offense has the ability to get hot.

I think that's one thing we've learned as team is you can't let up at all and you have to keep your foot on the gas.

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