Larry Gura, who has been a relatively obscure member of the Royals' staff, posted one of their most important victories of the season, pitching a four-hitter and shutting out Athletics, 4-0. As a result of the triumph, the Royals needed only one more victory in their last three games or one more loss by the A's in their last four to clinch the West Division title.

Amos Otis batted in two runs with a double and homer in support of Gura, who made only his second start of the season and gained his fourth straight victory, the three others coming in relief. The lefthander formerly was with the Cubs, Rangers and Yankees before coming to the Royals in a trade in May of this year. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 4, Oakland Athletics 0
Game Played on Wednesday, September 29, 1976 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Royals       0  1  2    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   4  8  0
A's          0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  4  1


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Poquette lf           4   1   1   0     0   0   .301      North cf              4   0   0   0     0   0   .278
Otis cf               4   1   2   2     0   1   .280      Campaneris ss         4   0   1   0     0   0   .258
Brett 3b              4   0   0   1     0   0   .328      Rudi lf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .272
McRae dh              4   1   1   0     0   0   .333      Tenace c              3   0   0   0     1   0   .248
Mayberry 1b           3   0   1   0     1   0   .235      Bando 3b              3   0   0   0     0   1   .242
Cowens rf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .265      Baylor rf             3   0   0   0     0   0   .247
Rojas 2b              3   0   1   1     0   0   .238      Washington dh         2   0   1   0     0   0   .259
  White 2b            1   0   0   0     0   0   .231      Fairly 1b             3   0   0   0     0   0   .260
Wathan c              4   0   0   0     0   0   .289      Garner 2b             3   0   2   0     0   0   .261
Patek ss              3   1   1   0     0   0   .243      P. Mitchell p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Gura p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Lindblad p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Bahnsen p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   4   8   4     1   1             Totals               29   0   4   0     1   1

Time of Game: 2:15   Attendance: 19,631
Left on Base: Royals 4, A's 4
DP: Royals 2, A's 1
Errors: Baylor
Doubles: Patek (19), Otis (40)
Home Runs: Otis (18)
GIDP: Bando (7), Fairly (1)
Hit by Pitch: Washington (3,by Gura)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Gura W(4-0)             9     4   0   0   1   1   0  31   2.37
Totals                  9     4   0   0   1   1   0  31

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
P. Mitchell L(9-7)      2     6   3   3   0   1   0  11   4.25
Lindblad                3.1   2   1   1   1   0   1  13   3.14
Bahnsen                 3.2   0   0   0   0   0   0  11   3.34
Totals                  9     8   4   4   1   1   1  35

Hit by Pitch: Gura (1)

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


ROYALS 1ST: Poquette flied out to left; Otis struck out; Brett
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0,
Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: North flied out to center; Campaneris flied out
to right; Rudi popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
0, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 2ND: McRae singled to left; Mayberry singled to right
[McRae to third]; Cowens lined into a double play (first
unassisted) [Mayberry out at first]; Rojas singled to left
[McRae scored]; Wathan grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 3
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Tenace grounded out (third to first); Bando
popped to third in foul territory; Baylor popped to third in
foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Patek doubled to left; Poquette singled to right
[Patek to third]; Otis doubled to right [Patek scored, Poquette
to third]; LINDBLAD REPLACED P. MITCHELL (PITCHING); Brett
grounded out (second to first) [Poquette scored]; McRae lined to
shortstop; Mayberry grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 3 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Royals 3, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Washington was hit by a pitch; Fairly flied out
to left; Garner singled to left [Washington to second]; North
flied out to right; Campaneris lined to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Royals 3, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 4TH: Cowens grounded out (third to first); Rojas lined to
second; Wathan flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
3, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Rudi grounded out (shortstop to first); Tenace
walked; Bando grounded into a double play (third to second to
first) [Tenace out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3,
Athletics 0.

ROYALS 5TH: Patek popped to catcher in foul territory; Poquette
popped to shortstop in foul territory; Otis homered; Brett flied
out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Baylor lined to second; Washington grounded out
(second to first); Fairly popped to second in foul territory; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 6TH: McRae flied out to right; Mayberry walked; Cowens
singled to right [Mayberry to third, Cowens to second (error by
Baylor)]; BAHNSEN REPLACED LINDBLAD (PITCHING); Rojas popped to
shortstop in foul territory; Wathan flied out to right; 0 R, 1
H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Garner lined to first; North lined to right;
Campaneris singled to right; Rudi flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 7TH: Patek popped to third; Poquette grounded out (first
to pitcher); Otis lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
4, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Tenace grounded out (pitcher to first); Bando
struck out; Baylor flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 8TH: Brett flied out to left; McRae grounded out (pitcher
to first); Mayberry flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 8TH: WHITE REPLACED ROJAS (PLAYING 2B); Washington
singled to right; Fairly grounded into a double play (first to
shortstop to first) [Washington out at second]; Garner singled
to left; North flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ROYALS 9TH: Cowens popped to shortstop; White lined to right;
Wathan grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 4, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Campaneris grounded out (pitcher to first); Rudi
flied out to right; Tenace popped to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 4, Athletics 0.