Although collecting only seven hits, the Athletics defeated the Royals, 8-1, with the aid of nine walks, a hit batsman, three wild pitches and six stolen bases. With the victory, the A's pulled within five games of the Royals in the West Division race with each club having nine games left to play.

Bill North and Don Baylor stole two bases apiece. Baylor's thefts gave him 51 to make the A's the first club in major league history to have three speedsters with 50 stolen bases each. North's pair raised his league-leading total to 74 and Bert Campaneris bagged his 54th. Claudell Washington accounted for the other stolen base. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 8, Kansas City Royals 1
Game Played on Thursday, September 23, 1976 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
A's          2  3  0    0  1  1    1  0  0  -   8  7  0
Royals       0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   1  5  0


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
North dh              5   1   2   2     1   0   .275      Poquette lf           4   1   1   0     0   1   .309
Campaneris ss         3   1   0   0     2   2   .265      Otis cf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .284
Rudi lf               3   1   1   1     2   0   .283      Brett 3b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .332
Tenace c              3   0   0   1     1   2   .251      McRae dh              4   0   0   0     0   1   .335
Bando 3b              5   0   1   1     0   0   .233      Mayberry 1b           2   0   1   1     2   0   .237
Baylor rf             3   1   0   0     1   1   .251      Cowens rf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .262
Washington cf         5   2   2   0     0   0   .251      Stinson c             3   0   2   0     1   0   .276
Fairly 1b             4   1   0   1     1   2   .255      White 2b              1   0   0   0     0   0   .234
Garner 2b             4   1   1   1     1   1   .263        Rojas ph,2b         2   0   0   0     0   0   .236
Torrez p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Patek ss              2   0   0   0     0   0   .248
                                                            Quirk ph,ss         1   0   0   0     0   0   .238
                                                          Leonard p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            R. Nelson p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Littell p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Hall p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Sanders p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Cram p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               35   8   7   7     9   8             Totals               31   1   5   1     3   2

Time of Game: 3:01   Attendance: 34,077
Left on Base: A's 11, Royals 6
DP: A's 1, Royals 0
Doubles: Washington (18), Garner (28)
Stolen Bases: North 2 (74), Baylor 2 (51), Campaneris (54), Washington (35)
Sacrifice Flies: Tenace (5)
GIDP: Rojas (5)
Hit by Pitch: Baylor (16,by R. Nelson)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Torrez W(15-11)         9     5   1   1   3   2   0  34   2.65
Totals                  9     5   1   1   3   2   0  34

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Leonard L(17-9)         1     4   5   5   2   3   0  10   3.52
R. Nelson               2     1   0   0   2   2   0  10   2.08
Littell                 3     0   2   2   3   0   0  13   2.06
Hall                    0.1   2   1   1   1   0   0   4   4.67
Sanders                 0.2   0   0   0   1   2   0   3   2.77
Cram                    2     0   0   0   0   1   0   6   5.40
Totals                  9     7   8   8   9   8   0  46

Hit by Pitch: R. Nelson (2)
Wild Pitches: Leonard 2 (7), Littell (1)

Umpires: HP - Joe Brinkman, 1B - Greg Kosc, 2B - Nestor Chylak, 3B - Jim Evans


ATHLETICS 1ST: North walked; Campaneris grounded out (third to
first) [North to second]; Rudi singled to left [North scored];
Leonard threw a wild pitch [Rudi to second]; Tenace struck out;
Bando singled to center [Rudi scored]; Baylor struck out; 2 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Poquette grounded out (second to first); Otis
grounded out (third to first); Brett lined to center; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Washington doubled to left; Fairly struck out but
Washington advanced to third and Fairly advanced to first on a
wild pitch; Garner walked [Fairly to second]; North singled to
center [Washington scored, Fairly scored, Garner to third]; R.
NELSON REPLACED LEONARD (PITCHING); North stole second;
Campaneris struck out; Rudi was walked intentionally; Tenace hit
a sacrifice fly to left [Garner scored, North to third]; Bando
popped to first in foul territory; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 5, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: McRae grounded out (first unassisted); Mayberry
walked; Cowens popped to shortstop; Stinson singled to left
[Mayberry to third]; White grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Baylor was hit by a pitch; Baylor stole second;
Washington flied out to right [Baylor to third]; Fairly was
called out on strikes; Garner grounded out (shortstop to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Patek flied out to center; Poquette was called out
on strikes; Otis flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 5, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: North singled; North stole second; Campaneris
walked; LITTELL REPLACED R. NELSON (PITCHING); Rudi lined to
left; Tenace flied out to right; Bando popped to shortstop; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 5, Royals 0.

ROYALS 4TH: Brett grounded out (shortstop to first); McRae
grounded out (shortstop to first); Mayberry walked; Cowens
forced Mayberry (third to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 5, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Baylor walked; Washington grounded out (second to
first) [Baylor to second]; Baylor stole third; Fairly reached on
a fielder's choice [Baylor scored]; Garner popped to first;
North grounded out (second to pitcher); 1 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 6, Royals 0.

ROYALS 5TH: Stinson walked; ROJAS BATTED FOR WHITE; Rojas
grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Stinson
out at second]; Patek grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 6, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 6TH: ROJAS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Campaneris
walked; Campaneris stole second; Rudi flied out to center;
Tenace walked; Bando grounded out (shortstop to first)
[Campaneris to third, Tenace to second]; Littell threw a wild
pitch [Campaneris scored, Tenace to third]; Baylor flied out to
left; 1 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 7, Royals 0.

ROYALS 6TH: Poquette singled to left; Otis singled to left
[Poquette to second]; Brett lined to left; McRae flied out to
right [Poquette to third]; Mayberry singled to center [Poquette
scored, Otis to second]; Cowens grounded out (second to first);
1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 7, Royals 1.

ATHLETICS 7TH: HALL REPLACED LITTELL (PITCHING); Washington
singled to left; Washington stole second; Fairly walked; Garner
doubled to left [Washington scored, Fairly to third]; North
grounded out (shortstop to first); SANDERS REPLACED HALL
(PITCHING); Campaneris struck out; Rudi walked; Tenace struck
out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Athletics 8, Royals 1.

ROYALS 7TH: Stinson singled to center; Rojas flied out to right;
QUIRK BATTED FOR PATEK; Quirk flied out to center; Poquette
flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 8, Royals 1.

ATHLETICS 8TH: QUIRK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); CRAM REPLACED
SANDERS (PITCHING); Bando grounded out (shortstop to first);
Baylor flied out to right; Washington flied out to left; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 8, Royals 1.

ROYALS 8TH: Otis grounded out (third to first); Brett popped to
shortstop; McRae was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 8, Royals 1.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Fairly grounded out (first to pitcher); Garner
struck out; North flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 8, Royals 1.

ROYALS 9TH: Mayberry flied out to center; Cowens grounded out
(shortstop to first); Stinson flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Athletics 8, Royals 1.