Jeurys Familia blows rare save, Mets go on to drop Game 1

Jeurys Familia blew his first save since July 30 in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.

After pitching out of a two-on, two-out jam to escape the bottom of the eighth inning, Familia surrendered a game-tying home run to Alex Gordon that evened the game at 4-4 and sent it into extra innings. The Mets eventually lost the game.

“I left it up in the zone a little bit,” said Familia, who has allowed seven home runs in 89 innings this year, including the postseason. “I wanted to go away, down. I left it a little up in the zone and he made a good swing. I know they’re good hitters, but if I made my pitch like I’ve been doing, I’d be OK. This is the game, everyone makes mistakes.”

Familia, who, including the playoffs, has allowed seven home runs in 89 innings this year, had pitched 10 1/3 scoreless postseason innings before allowing Gordon’s game-tying home run.

“He doesn’t give up home runs, so we were all shocked by it,” manager Terry Collins said after the game. “We liked where we were at. Certainly, tomorrow night in the same situation, he’ll be back out there.”

Matthew Cerrone
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The pitch to Gordon was a flat, two-seamer in the low 90s. It was over the plate, instead of down, which is not typical of Familia. He just made a mistake. It happens. He’s probably done it before, but in those situation he may not have been facing Gordon, who is a smart, opportunistic hitter. Gordon saw his moment and mashed it…

How is Familia going to handle his next outing? That’s the big question. This is the definition of a great closer is the guy that can shake off a major loss, focus and return to being dominant, with no lasting effect from the night before. Familia has shown he’s capable of this. However, the World Series, on this stage, with a game of this importance, is new for him. I think he’ll be fine, but we will only know that when Familia steps back on the mound for another save opportunity, which hopefully will be in Game 2.

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