Mike Epstein drove in three runs with a double and single and Catfish Hunter gained his 11th victory with help from Rollie Fingers as the Athletics stretched their lead in the West division to 11 games by defeating the second-place Royals, 4-2. Hunter and Reggie Jackson singled in the third inning and both scored on Epstein's double.

A single by Bert Campaneris, an infield out and Epstein's single added a run in the fifth. Dave Duncan singled and Hunter, who is the majors' best hitting pitcher, tripled to produce the A's last run in the sixth. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 4, Kansas City Royals 2
Game Played on Saturday, June      26, 1971 (Day game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Royals       0  0  1    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   2  9  0
A's          0  0  2    0  1  1    0  0  x  -   4 11  0


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Patek ss              4   0   0   0     1   1   .261      Campaneris ss         4   1   1   0     0   0   .257
Schaal 3b             4   1   1   0     1   1   .291      Rudi lf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .254
Otis cf               4   0   2   0     1   1   .308      Jackson rf            4   1   2   0     0   1   .279
Kirkpatrick c         5   0   0   0     0   3   .254      Epstein 1b            4   0   2   3     0   0   .292
Hopkins 1b            3   1   2   1     1   0   .262      Bando 3b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .272
Rojas 2b              4   0   2   0     0   1   .323      Monday cf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .217
Piniella lf           3   0   0   1     0   0   .245      Duncan c              4   1   3   0     0   0   .234
Keough rf             3   0   1   0     1   2   .216      Green 2b              3   0   1   0     0   1   .270
Dal Canton p          2   0   1   0     0   1   .121      Hunter p              3   1   2   1     0   0   .365
  Oliver ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .241        Fingers p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .217
  Nelson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Harrison ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .196
  Abernathy p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   2   9   2     5  12             Totals               34   4  11   4     0   3

Time of Game: 2:35   Attendance: 39,920
Left on Base: Royals 11, A's 6
DP: Royals 1, A's 1
Doubles: Rojas (16), Jackson (16), Epstein (8)
Triples: Hunter (1)
Stolen Bases: Otis (21), Patek (26)
Sacrifice Flies: Piniella (3)
GIDP: Rojas (6), Hunter (2)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Dal Canton L(7-3)       5     9   3   3   0   3   0  23   2.95
Nelson                  2     2   1   1   0   0   0   8   4.50
Abernathy               1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   2.19
Totals                  8    11   4   4   0   3   0  34

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hunter W(11-5)          7     8   2   2   5  10   0  33   3.45
Fingers SV(4)           2     1   0   0   0   2   0   7   2.87
Totals                  9     9   2   2   5  12   0  40

Wild Pitches: Hunter (2)

Umpires: HP - Hank Soar, 1B - Larry Barnett, 2B - Merle Anthony, 3B - George Maloney


ROYALS 1ST: Patek was called out on strikes; Schaal singled to
right; Otis singled to center [Schaal to third]; Otis stole
second; Kirkpatrick struck out; Hopkins walked; Rojas struck out
(catcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Royals 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Campaneris grounded out (shortstop to first);
Rudi grounded out (pitcher to first); Jackson doubled to center;
Epstein grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Royals 0, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Piniella grounded out (third to first); Keough was
called out on strikes; Dal Canton singled to first; Patek flied
out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Bando was called out on strikes; Monday grounded
out (pitcher to shortstop to first); Duncan singled to
shortstop; Green struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0,
Athletics 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Schaal walked; Otis walked [Schaal to second];
Kirkpatrick struck out; Hopkins singled to left [Otis to second,
Schaal scored]; Rojas grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Hopkins out at second]; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Royals 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Hunter singled to second; Campaneris flied out to
left; Rudi flied out to left; Jackson singled to right [Hunter
to third]; Epstein doubled [Jackson scored, Hunter scored];
Bando flied out to left; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1,
Athletics 2.

ROYALS 4TH: Piniella flied out to center; Keough struck out; Dal
Canton struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Monday grounded out (first to pitcher); Duncan
singled to center; Green singled to third [Duncan to second];
Hunter grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to
first) [Green out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1,
Athletics 2.

ROYALS 5TH: Patek flied out to left; Schaal struck out; Otis
singled to shortstop; Kirkpatrick grounded out (pitcher to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Campaneris singled to left; Rudi grounded out
(third to first) [Campaneris to second]; Jackson struck out;
Epstein singled to right [Campaneris scored]; Bando popped to
third in foul territory; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1,
Athletics 3.

ROYALS 6TH: Hopkins popped to shortstop in foul territory; Rojas
doubled to left; Hunter threw a wild pitch [Rojas to third];
Piniella made an out to second; Keough walked; OLIVER BATTED FOR
DAL CANTON; Oliver struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 1,
Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 6TH: NELSON REPLACED OLIVER (PITCHING); Monday
grounded out (first to pitcher); Duncan singled to center; Green
popped to first in foul territory; Hunter tripled [Duncan
scored]; Campaneris flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 7TH: Patek walked; Patek stole second; Schaal flied out
to right; Otis popped to third in foul territory; Kirkpatrick
was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1,
Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Rudi flied out to left; Jackson grounded out
(first to pitcher); Epstein lined to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 8TH: Hopkins singled to left; Rojas singled to right
[Hopkins to third]; FINGERS REPLACED HUNTER (PITCHING); Piniella
hit a sacrifice fly to right [Hopkins scored]; Keough singled to
center [Rojas to third]; HARRISON BATTED FOR NELSON; Harrison
was called out on strikes; Patek popped to second in foul
territory; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 2, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 8TH: ABERNATHY REPLACED HARRISON (PITCHING); Bando
grounded out (shortstop to first); Monday grounded out (second
to first); Duncan made an out to pitcher; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 2, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 9TH: Schaal flied out to right; Otis struck out;
Kirkpatrick grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 2, Athletics 4.