Editing Kansas City Royals (section)

===2015: World Series Champions===
{{see also|2015 World Series}}
[[File:Royals Celebrating Winning the 2015 World Series.jpg|thumb|Royals celebrating winning the [[2015 World Series]]]]
After earning a wild card entry to the playoffs in [[2014 Kansas City Royals season|2014]], in [[2015 Kansas City Royals season|2015]], the Royals won the franchise's first division title since [[1985 Kansas City Royals season|1985]] and first [[American League Central|Central division]] title ever. The Royals went on to win the [[2015 World Series]] – the first championship for the Royals since 1985 – beating the [[2015 New York Mets season|New York Mets]] four games to one.<ref name="grasswire.com">{{cite web|url=https://grasswire.com/story/561/2015-World-Series|title=Kansas City Royals Beat New York Mets 7–2 to Win World Series|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208065626/https://grasswire.com/story/561/2015-World-Series|archive-date=December 8, 2015|access-date=November 2, 2015}}</ref>

The Royals entered the 2015 All-Star break with the best record in the [[American League]] at 52–34. The team continued its momentum into the second half of the season, and on July 26, Royals management traded three prospects [[Brandon Finnegan]], [https://www.mlb.com/player/john-lamb-543424 John Lamb], and [[Cincinnati Reds minor league players|Cody Reed]] for 2014 All-Star pitcher [[Johnny Cueto]] to help bolster its starting pitching rotation, as well as trading two pitchers to the Oakland Athletics for super-utility player [[Ben Zobrist]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Jazayerli|first=Rany|title=No More Royal Pains|website=Grantland|date=July 27, 2015|url= https://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-trade-deadline-johnny-cueto-kansas-city-royals-cincinnati-reds/|access-date=July 27, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728003833/http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-trade-deadline-johnny-cueto-kansas-city-royals-cincinnati-reds/|archive-date=July 28, 2015}}</ref> The team ended the regular season with a record of 95–67, the best in the entire American League, and the organization's best record since [[1980 Kansas City Royals season|1980]].

The Royals faced the [[2015 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]] in the [[2015 American League Division Series|ALDS]]. Down 2–1 in the series and trailing 6–2 in the 8th inning of Game 4, the Royals rallied for 5 runs en route to a 9–6 win before Cueto's gem in [[2015 American League Division Series|Game 5]] powered the Royals to a second consecutive [[American League Championship Series|ALCS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/c-154484536|title=Johnny Cueto pitches Royals to ALDS victory|work=Major League Baseball|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016123136/http://m.mlb.com/news/article/154484536/johnny-cueto-pitches-royals-to-alds-victory|archive-date=October 16, 2015}}</ref> The Royals defeated the [[Toronto Blue Jays]] in Game 6, to win the [[2015 American League Championship Series|2015 ALCS]] and earn a trip to face the [[New York Mets]] in the [[2015 World Series]].

The Royals beat the [[New York Mets]] 4 games to 1 to become the [[2015 World Series]] champions.<ref name="grasswire.com"/> It was the Royals' first World Series title since 1985. The series win was sealed after the Royals beat the Mets 7–2 in the 12th inning of Game 5. The Royals rallied in the 9th inning down 2–0 to tie the score 2–2, forcing the game into extra innings. The five-run 12th inning was initiated by a Salvador Pérez single, with Jarrod Dyson pinch-running for him. This was followed by a single from [[Christian Colon]] and doubles from both [[Alcides Escobar]] and [[Lorenzo Cain]], scoring runs from [[Jarrod Dyson]], Colon, [[Paulo Orlando]] (who reached base on an error by [[Daniel Murphy (baseball)|Daniel Murphy]]), Escobar and [[Ben Zobrist]] (who was intentionally walked). [[Wade Davis (baseball)|Wade Davis]], who hadn't allowed a run yet that postseason, closed out the game with a flawless 12th, allowing one hit and striking out [[Wilmer Flores]] to end the game and win the World Series for the Royals.<ref>{{cite web|title = Kansas City Royals vs. New York Mets – Play By Play – November 01, 2015 |url = https://www.espn.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=351101121|website = ESPN.com|access-date = November 2, 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151102194216/http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=351101121|archive-date = November 2, 2015|df = mdy-all}}</ref> Upon conclusion of the final game, catcher [[Salvador Pérez|Salvador Perez]] was named World Series MVP.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kahrl|first=Christina|date=November 2, 2015|title=Royals Catcher Salvador Perez Named World Series MVP|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2015/story/_/id/14034579/salvador-perez-kansas-city-royals-named-world-series-mvp|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=ESPN|archive-date=October 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012093505/https://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2015/story/_/id/14034579/salvador-perez-kansas-city-royals-named-world-series-mvp|url-status=live}}</ref>