Volquez to start World Series opener for Royals

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(AP) — Edinson Volquez will start Tuesday’s World Series opener for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Mets.

“It’s a great honor to pitch in this game, especially pitching at home,” Volquez said Monday. “It’s a great feeling.”

Johnny Cueto starts Game 2 on Wednesday. When the Series switches to Citi Field, Yordano Ventura will start Game 3 on Friday, followed by Chris Young in Game 4.

New York’s rotation opens with Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom in Kansas City. Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz follow at Citi Field.

Volquez was 13-9 with a 3.55 ERA during the regular season and 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA during three starts in the playoffs. He pitched six scoreless innings of two-hit ball to beat Toronto in the AL Championship Series opener. Volquez lost Game 3 of the Division Series against Houston and Game 5 of the ALCS.

“Volquez lined up perfectly for the first spot for us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “If we brought Ventura back for Game 1, he would have been a day early. We didn’t want that.”

Kansas City’s rotation has Cueto starting Game 2 and a potential Game 6 at home, where he was 6-4 during the season. Cueto was 5-9 on the road.

“Johnny really feeds off the home crowd,” Yost said. “They really, really give him a lot of energy. He’s pitched his best games here.”

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