Royals advanced scouting provided WS advantage

The Kansas City Royals took risks throughout the postseason - a number of them on the basepaths - and although the moves seemed like gambles, some of them were pre-planned.

Kansas City's advanced scouting team told players ahead of the series with the New York Mets they could run on first baseman Lucas Duda's arm, and at some point second baseman Daniel Murphy would boot a ball, reports Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star.

The advanced scouting paid off in Monday's deciding Game 5, when Eric Hosmer ran on Duda to score the tying run in the ninth inning, while - in the 12th - Murphy made the second of two costly errors in the series.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Kansas City took advantage of a number of Mets' defensive miscues throughout the series, en route to their first World Series title since 1985.