NEW YORK -- The hero of the opening two rounds had his fairy-tale postseason take a dramatic turn.
Daniel Murphy had a slow grounder from Eric Hosmer roll under his glove for an E-4 as the tying run scored from second base in the eighth inning. Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez followed with run-scoring singles against Jeurys Familia as the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 5-3 win against the New York Mets in Game 4 on Saturday at Citi Field.
Five outs from pulling even in the World Series, the Mets instead now find themselves in a 3-1 hole and facing elimination on Sunday when Matt Harvey takes the mound.
Teams leading 3-1 in a best-of-seven postseason series go on to prevail 85 percent of the time (68-12), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The last team to rally from such a deficit in the World Series was the 1985 Royals.
Familia suffered his second blown save of the World Series, although Tyler Clippard incurred the loss. Clippard, shaky since late September, had issued a pair of one-out walks with the Mets nursing a 3-2 lead in the eighth. That prompted manager Terry Collins to call on Familia for the ill-fated five-out save bid.
Murphy had been the hero through two rounds, carrying the Amazin's to their first World Series in 15 years by producing homers in an MLB-record six straight postseason games.
The three-run eighth by the Royals wasted a historic two-homer night by Michael Conforto as well as a solid effort by fellow rookie Steven Matz.
Thumbs up: Conforto (22 years, 244 days) became the third-youngest player in World Series history with a two-homer game. Only Andruw Jones (19 years, 180 days) in 1996 and Tony Kubek (21 years, 358 days) in 1957 were younger.
Conforto also became the second player in Mets history to record a two-homer game in the World Series. Gary Carter had a pair of homers in Game 4 of the 1986 World Series at Fenway Park.
Conforto, who snapped an 0-for-20 skid with an infield single in Game 3, now has four hits this postseason. Three have been long balls. The other came in his first career postseason at-bat, against Los Angeles Dodgers ace Zack Greinke in the National League Division Series.
Conforto's first homer Saturday came against Chris Young and gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the third. His second solo shot came in the fifth against left-handed reliever Danny Duffy and provided a 3-1 advantage.
Matz held the Royals scoreless into the fifth, when Alex Gordon delivered an RBI single. An inning later, Kansas City pulled within 3-2 when Lorenzo Cain's single plated Ben Zobrist.
With the tying run at first base and none out in that frame, Collins inserted Jonathon Niese. A stolen base allowed Cain to advance, but Niese retired Hosmer on a lineout and Moustakas on a groundout.
Collins returned to the mound and called for Bartolo Colon. An errant pickoff throw to second base allowed Cain to advance a base, but Colon capped a 10-pitch faceoff by striking out Perez to preserve the one-run lead.
Thumbs down: Oops. Alex Rios apparently forgot how many outs there were on a fly ball to right field in the third inning. By the time he realized his transgression, Wilmer Flores successfully had trotted home on Curtis Granderson's sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. Flores seemed like he may have left early, but a replay review did not provide enough evidence to rule him out.
What's next: With the Mets' season on the brink, Harvey opposes right-hander Edinson Volquez at 8:15 p.m. ET on Sunday at Citi Field. Volquez rejoined the Royals on Saturday afternoon from the Dominican Republic, where he was mourning his father's passing.