1. The Royals defense is much stronger than the Cubs – Kyle Schwarber seems like a distant memory. The Royals have been consistently praised for their amazing defense, but now I think we truly know why. No throwing errors, fielding errors or bad arms. They have so much outfield speed which allows them to cover a lot of ground, which is important in parks like Kauffman Stadium and Citi Field.

2.  The Royals bullpen has depth – The Mets have some quality arms down in their bullpen, including Jeryus Familia, Tyler Clippard, Hansel Robles and Addison Reed, but the Royals have a slightly better ‘pen, one that gets 1-2-3 stuff from Kelvin Herrera in the seventh, Wade Davis in the eighth, and Greg Holland in the ninth.

3.  The Mets will put up a good fight, and won’t give up many runs-  In 14 innings of Baseball, I saw why this will be a very good series. Both teams are young and full of energy. The Royals fans were in it all night and there wasn’t a seat left untaken all night long. Even though I’m a die-hard Mets fan, I’m happy that Edison Volquez got to pitch in the game with success, and my thoughts go out to his family.

4. Matt Harvey wasn’t sharp- Every time writers and bloggers talk about how Harvey needs to step up, he never does. I think we can now confidently say that if deGrom throws a good game tonight, he is the ace. I’m not saying Harvey is a bad pitcher, he’s a damn good one. But his command his overall approach to hitters isn’t ace-like.

5. This is going to be a long, fun, series. – I honestly cannot wait for the home games this weekend. I have tickets for Game 4, and will be proudly be wearing the Orange and Blue. deGrom goes tonight in what will be a very pivotal Game 2. Hopefully the win tonight and go back home with a series split in Kansas City.