Mets stay alive in World Series after Game Three win

The New York Mets climbed back into the World Series with a crucial 9-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals at a jubilant Citi Field.

Lifted by the roars of the home crowd, a pair of two-run home runs, and gritty pitching by rookie Noah Syndergaard, the Mets narrowed the deficit in the best-of-seven ‘Fall Classic’ to 2-1.

Mets manager Terry Collins said it had been vital his team avoided going 3-0 down, a deficit no club has overcome to win a World Series.

“Sure, when you get down 3-0 it’s really difficult,” said Collins. “I just thought it was a real big game for us.”

Captain David Wright blasted a homer in the bottom of the first off Yordano Ventura to give New York a 2-1 lead, and after the Royals scored two runs in the second, Curtis Granderson hit a shot over the right-field fence in the third for a 4-3 lead.

A four-run outburst in the sixth, helped along by some sloppy Royals fielding, put the game out of reach as Wright broke out of a postseason slump by going 2-for-5 with four runs batted in.

Fireballer Syndergaard settled down after yielding six hits in the first two frames to pitch six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

The Mets, the National League champions, will try to square the series in Game Four in New York on Saturday.