Royals Lead 3-1 Over Mets In World Series

Beating the Mets 5-3, the Kansas City Royals came from behind in the eighth inning, placing themselves one win closer to a World Series title. A Royals rally and a fatal error by second baseman Daniel Murphy leaves Kansas City one game away from their first championship title in 30 years.

Led by Michael Conforto's two homers, the Rookie-powered Mets were up 3-2 until second baseman Daniel Murphy missed Eric Hosmer's ground ball, setting off two runs in the eighth against Mets pitchers Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia.

The Mets had endured a disheartening start to the series — first an unusually long Game 1, with a Mets loss The New York Times described as "dispiriting and exhausting," and then a Johnny Cueto-fueled rout by the Royals in Game 2.

But the Mets turned it around to take home Game 3, 9-3, and they were hoping to keep that momentum going in their return to Citi Field.

In the third inning of Game 4 Saturday night, Michael Conforto obliged, hitting the accelerator with a dramatic solo home run.

Then the Mets made it two when a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly sent Wilmer Flores to home plate. (The play was filled with gaffes — the Royals' Alex Rios appeared to lose track of the number of outs, wasting precious moments before throwing home, and Flores seemed to hop off third base a little early. But a review found Flores was safe.)

Mets pitcher Steven Matz kept the Royals from scoring through the first four innings, pitching five strikeouts.

Kansas City's luck started to turn at the top of the fifth when Alex Gordon hit a single on a line drive for Salvador Perez to score. The Mets were encouraged when Conforto followed up with a second homer — but then the Royals came roaring back.

The Royals will shoot for their first opportunity at the Series title in 30 years on Sunday for Game 5 at New York's Citi Field, airing on Fox.