Vida Blue, who was sold to the Yankees and then returned to the Athletics by order of Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, pitched for the first time since June 11 and was kayoed in the sixth inning to absorb an 8-5 loss to the Royals. Blue got off to a bad start, yielding five runs in the first two frames, but the A's came back to tie the score before a double by John Mayberry, the first batter in the sixth, led to Blue's exit.

After Stan Bahnsen relieved, Hal McRae sacrificed. When Al Cowens hit a grounder, Mayberry returned to third safely while Cowens reached first. As the runners started with the pitch, Buck Martinez attempted a squeeze bunt and missed the ball, but Mayberry slid home safely and was credited with a stolen base. Cowens advanced to second, pilfered third and then stored on a wild pitch. Mayberry added a run for the Royals with a homer in the eighth inning. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 8, Oakland Athletics 5
Game Played on Friday, July      2, 1976 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
A's          0  0  2    0  3  0    0  0  0  -   5  9  0
Royals       4  1  0    0  0  2    0  1  x  -   8 10  2


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
North cf              4   0   0   0     1   3   .274      Wohlford lf           4   2   2   0     0   0   .250
Campaneris ss         5   1   1   0     0   0   .232      Otis cf               3   1   2   1     1   0   .304
Baylor dh             5   1   2   0     0   0   .226      Brett 3b              4   1   1   1     0   0   .358
Rudi lf               3   1   0   0     2   0   .254      Mayberry 1b           4   3   3   2     0   0   .251
Bando 3b              4   2   1   2     1   0   .228      McRae dh              2   0   0   1     0   1   .332
Tenace 1b             4   0   0   1     0   1   .246      Cowens rf             4   1   2   1     0   0   .266
Washington rf         4   0   1   1     0   0   .226      Martinez c            4   0   0   0     0   3   .274
Garner 2b             4   0   3   1     0   0   .273      Patek ss              3   0   0   0     0   0   .268
Haney c               2   0   1   0     1   0   .223      White 2b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .210
  Williams ph         0   0   0   0     1   0   .204      Busby p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Lintz pr            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Littell p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Newman c            0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000
Blue p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Bahnsen p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               35   5   9   5     6   4             Totals               31   8  10   6     1   4

Time of Game: 3:05   Attendance: 25,723
Left on Base: A's 9, Royals 2
DP: A's 1, Royals 0
Errors: Brett, Busby
Doubles: Campaneris (8), Mayberry 2 (9), Cowens (10), Otis (18)
Triples: Washington (3), Wohlford (1)
Home Runs: Bando (17), Mayberry (11)
Stolen Bases: North 2 (34), Wohlford (15), Mayberry (3), Cowens 2 (10)
Caught Stealing: Baylor (5), Cowens (7)
Sacrifice Hits: McRae (2)
Sacrifice Flies: McRae (5)
GIDP: Brett (3)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue L(6-7)             5     7   6   6   1   2   0  22   3.43
Bahnsen                 3     3   2   2   0   2   1  12   3.11
Totals                  8    10   8   8   1   4   1  34

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Busby                   4.2   6   5   3   5   3   1  25   4.31
Littell W(4-3)          4.1   3   0   0   1   1   0  16   2.66
Totals                  9     9   5   3   6   4   1  41

Wild Pitches: Bahnsen (4), Busby (1)

Umpires: HP - Ron Luciano, 1B - Al Clark, 2B - Larry McCoy, 3B - Bill Haller


ATHLETICS 1ST: North walked; North stole second; North stole
third; Campaneris flied out to left; Baylor flied out to center;
Rudi walked; Bando lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Wohlford singled to right; Wohlford stole second;
Otis walked; Brett singled to left [Wohlford scored, Otis to
second]; Mayberry doubled to right [Otis scored, Brett to
third]; McRae hit a sacrifice fly to center [Brett scored];
Cowens doubled to left [Mayberry scored]; Martinez struck out;
Patek made an out to shortstop; 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics
0, Royals 4.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Tenace grounded out (shortstop to first);
Washington grounded out (second to first); Garner singled to
left; Haney walked [Garner to second]; Busby threw a wild pitch
[Garner to third, Haney to second]; North struck out; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 0, Royals 4.

ROYALS 2ND: White grounded out (shortstop to first); Wohlford
tripled to right; Otis singled to right [Wohlford scored]; Brett
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Otis
out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0, Royals 5.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Campaneris grounded out (shortstop to first);
Baylor singled to left; Rudi flied out to left; Bando homered
[Baylor scored]; Tenace was called out on strikes; 2 R, 2 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Royals 5.

ROYALS 3RD: Mayberry grounded out (second to first); McRae
grounded out (shortstop to first); Cowens lined to center; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Royals 5.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Washington grounded out (pitcher to first);
Garner singled to right; Haney singled [Garner to second];
Garner was picked off second (pitcher to second); North struck
out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2, Royals 5.

ROYALS 4TH: Martinez struck out; Patek grounded out (third to
first); White grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Royals 5.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Campaneris doubled to left; Baylor reached on an
error by Busby [Campaneris to third]; Baylor was picked off and
caught stealing second (pitcher to first to second to first);
Rudi walked; Bando walked [Rudi to second]; Tenace reached on an
error by Brett [Campaneris scored, Rudi to third, Bando to
second]; Washington grounded out (first unassisted) [Rudi scored
(unearned), Bando to third, Tenace to second]; LITTELL REPLACED
BUSBY (PITCHING); Garner singled to left [Bando scored
(unearned), Tenace out at home (left to catcher)]; 3 R (1 ER), 2
H, 2 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 5.

ROYALS 5TH: Wohlford popped to first in foul territory; Otis
grounded out (third to first); Brett grounded out (pitcher to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 5.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Haney flied out to left; North grounded out
(pitcher to first); Campaneris flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 5.

ROYALS 6TH: Mayberry doubled to left; BAHNSEN REPLACED BLUE
(PITCHING); McRae out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first)
[Mayberry to third]; Cowens reached on a fielder's choice;
Mayberry stole home and Cowens stole second; Cowens stole third;
Bahnsen threw a wild pitch [Cowens scored]; Martinez struck out;
Patek flied out to right; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 5,
Royals 7.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Baylor popped to first in foul territory; Rudi
grounded out (third to first); Bando grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 7.

ROYALS 7TH: White made an out to shortstop; Wohlford lined to
left; Otis doubled to left; Brett flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 7.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Tenace flied out to center; Washington tripled to
right; Garner flied out to right; WILLIAMS BATTED FOR HANEY;
Williams walked; LINTZ RAN FOR WILLIAMS; North struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 7.

ROYALS 8TH: NEWMAN REPLACED LINTZ (PLAYING C ); Mayberry
homered; McRae struck out; Cowens singled; Cowens was caught
stealing second (catcher to second); Martinez popped to first in
foul territory; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 8.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Campaneris grounded out (shortstop to first);
Baylor singled to left; Rudi forced Baylor (shortstop to
second); Bando popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 8.