Solo homers by Larry Hisle, Dan Ford and Craig Kusick, plus a club record-tying five double plays, carried the Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Royals. Hisle and Ford hit their homers consecutively in the third inning. After the Royals came back to tie the score, Kusick connected with two out in the eighth to provide the Twins' winning run. [The Sporting News]



Minnesota Twins 3, Kansas City Royals 2
Game Played on Wednesday, April     20, 1977 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
Twins        0  0  2    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   3 10  1
Royals       0  0  1    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   2 15  0


Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Terrell 3b            5   0   1   0     0   0   .226      Brett 3b              5   0   2   0     0   0   .298
Smalley ss            5   0   0   0     0   1   .176      McRae dh              4   1   2   0     1   0   .404
Carew 1b              2   0   1   0     2   1   .352      Mayberry 1b           5   0   1   0     0   0   .271
Hisle lf              4   1   2   1     0   0   .296      Otis cf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .279
Ford rf               4   1   1   1     0   1   .250      Porter c              3   1   2   0     0   0   .394
Kusick dh             3   1   2   1     1   0   .290        Wathan ph,c         1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Bostock cf            4   0   1   0     0   1   .308      Cowens rf             4   0   3   0     0   0   .340
Randall 2b            4   0   2   0     0   0   .163      Poquette lf           3   0   2   0     0   0   .571
Borgmann c            3   0   0   0     1   1   .227        Rojas ph            0   0   0   0     1   0   .182
Thormodsgard p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Zdeb pr,lf          0   0   0   0     0   0   .125
  Burgmeier p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Patek ss              2   0   1   1     1   0   .316
  T. Johnson p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        LaCock ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .167
                                                            Heise ss            0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000
                                                          White 2b              4   0   2   0     0   0   .263
                                                          Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Littell p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   3  10   3     4   5             Totals               36   2  15   1     3   0

Time of Game: 3:06   Attendance:  9,267
Left on Base: Twins 8, Royals 10
DP: Twins 5, Royals 1
Errors: Smalley
Doubles: Brett (2), Cowens (5)
Home Runs: Hisle (3), Ford (1), Kusick (2)
Stolen Bases: Carew (2), Bostock (4), Patek (5)
Caught Stealing: Carew 2 (3)
GIDP: Bostock (1), Otis (1), LaCock (3)


Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Thormodsgard            3     8   1   0   1   0   0  16   2.20
Burgmeier W(1-1)        4.1   6   1   1   1   0   0  17   1.42
T. Johnson SV(1)        1.2   1   0   0   1   0   0   6   0.00
Totals                  9    15   2   1   3   0   0  39

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff              7     8   2   2   4   4   2  30   4.18
Littell L(1-1)          2     2   1   1   0   1   1   8   1.00
Totals                  9    10   3   3   4   5   3  38

Wild Pitches: Burgmeier (1), Splittorff (1)

Umpires: HP - Bill Haller, 1B - Hank Soar, 2B - Ron Luciano, 3B - Ken Kaiser


TWINS 1ST: Terrell flied out to right; Smalley grounded out
(shortstop to first); Carew walked; Hisle singled to right
[Carew to third]; Splittorff threw a wild pitch [Hisle to
second]; Ford flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins
0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Brett grounded out (second to first); McRae singled
to center; Mayberry popped to third in foul territory; Otis
flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 0, Royals 0.

TWINS 2ND: Kusick singled to left; Bostock grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Kusick out at
second]; Randall singled to center; Borgmann walked [Randall to
second]; Terrell forced Borgmann (third to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Twins 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Porter singled to center; Cowens flied into a double
play (left to second) [Porter out at second]; Poquette singled
to right; Patek walked [Poquette to second]; White singled to
shortstop [Poquette out at third (shortstop to second to
catcher), Patek to second]; 0 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 0,
Royals 0.

TWINS 3RD: Smalley grounded out (third to first); Carew walked;
Carew was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Hisle
homered; Ford homered; Kusick walked; Bostock forced Kusick
(second to shortstop); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Brett doubled to right; Brett was picked off second
(pitcher to shortstop); McRae singled to left; Mayberry grounded
out (third to shortstop to first) [McRae to second]; Otis
reached on an error by Smalley [McRae scored (unearned)]; Porter
flied out to center; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2,
Royals 1.

TWINS 4TH: Randall singled to left; Borgmann forced Randall
(third to shortstop); Terrell flied out to right; Smalley
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins
2, Royals 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Cowens singled; Poquette singled to right [Cowens to
second]; BURGMEIER REPLACED THORMODSGARD (PITCHING); Patek
forced Poquette (shortstop to second) [Cowens to third]; Patek
stole second; White flied out to center; Brett flied out to
left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 1.

TWINS 5TH: Carew singled to left; Carew stole second; Carew was
caught stealing third (catcher to third); Hisle flied out to
right; Ford struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 1.

ROYALS 5TH: McRae walked; Mayberry flied out to left; Otis hit
into a double play (shortstop to first to third) [McRae out at
second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 1.

TWINS 6TH: Kusick flied out to right; Bostock singled; Bostock
stole second; Randall flied out to left; Borgmann struck out; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 1.

ROYALS 6TH: Porter singled to left; Burgmeier threw a wild pitch
[Porter to second]; Cowens singled to center [Porter to third];
Poquette flied out to left; Patek singled to left [Porter
scored, Cowens to second]; White hit into a double play (right
to second) [Cowens out at third]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins
2, Royals 2.

TWINS 7TH: Terrell grounded out (shortstop to first); Smalley
struck out; Carew was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 2.

ROYALS 7TH: Brett singled to left; McRae flied out to right;
Mayberry singled to left [Brett to third]; Otis grounded into a
double play (shortstop to first) [Mayberry out at second]; 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Royals 2.

TWINS 8TH: LITTELL REPLACED SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); Hisle
grounded out (third to first); Ford grounded out (shortstop to
first); Kusick homered; Bostock struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Twins 3, Royals 2.

ROYALS 8TH: WATHAN BATTED FOR PORTER; Wathan popped to first in
foul territory; Cowens doubled to right; T. JOHNSON REPLACED
BURGMEIER (PITCHING); ROJAS BATTED FOR POQUETTE; Rojas walked;
ZDEB RAN FOR ROJAS; LACOCK BATTED FOR PATEK; LaCock grounded
into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Zdeb out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 3, Royals 2.

TWINS 9TH: WATHAN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); ZDEB STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING LF); HEISE REPLACED LACOCK (PLAYING SS); Randall
popped to shortstop; Borgmann flied out to left; Terrell
singled; Smalley popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Twins 3, Royals 2.

ROYALS 9TH: White singled to left; Brett flied out to right;
McRae flied out to center; Mayberry flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 3, Royals 2.