The Royals ripped into Vida Blue for five consecutive hits in the fourth inning, including back-to-back doubles by Amos Otis and John Mayberry and consecutive triples by Fred Patek and Frank White, to defeat the Athletics, 6-2. After Otis and Mayberry hit their doubles for a run to break a 1-1 tie, Buck Martinez singled Mayberry to third.

Patek and White followed with their triples, kayoing Blue. Joe Zdeb greeted reliever Pablo Torrealba with a sacrifice fly for the fifth run of the frame. Dennis Leonard, who limited the A's to six hits, struck out 13, his career high, and tied the Kansas City club record set by Steve Busby July 10, 1973. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 6, Oakland Athletics 2
Game Played on Friday, July      8, 1977 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
A's          0  0  1    0  0  0    0  0  1  -   2  6  0
Royals       0  0  1    5  0  0    0  0  x  -   6 12  0


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Scott ss              4   1   2   0     0   0   .288      Zdeb lf               3   0   1   1     0   0   .338
Perez 2b              4   0   0   0     0   2   .262        Poquette lf         1   0   0   0     0   0   .300
Page lf               4   0   1   1     0   2   .288      Brett 3b              3   1   0   0     2   0   .286
Gross 3b              4   0   0   0     0   3   .240      McRae dh              5   0   2   1     0   2   .294
Sanguillen c          4   1   1   0     0   0   .273      Cowens rf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .301
Crawford dh           3   0   1   1     0   0   .236      Otis cf               3   1   1   0     1   1   .256
McKinney 1b           3   0   0   0     1   2   .191      Mayberry 1b           3   1   1   1     1   1   .230
Murray rf             3   0   0   0     0   2   .158      Martinez c            4   1   2   0     0   1   .255
Armas cf              3   0   1   0     0   2   .243      Patek ss              4   1   2   2     0   0   .263
Blue p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      White 2b              4   1   3   1     0   0   .249
  Torrealba p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Leonard p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Bair p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Coleman p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               32   2   6   2     1  13             Totals               34   6  12   6     4   5

Time of Game: 2:50   Attendance: 27,647
Left on Base: A's 5, Royals 9
DP: A's 1, Royals 0
Doubles: Page (15), McRae (25), Otis (12), Mayberry (12)
Triples: Sanguillen (3), Patek (4), White (3)
Stolen Bases: Scott (10), Page (19), Otis (11)
Sacrifice Flies: Crawford (1), Zdeb (3)
GIDP: Zdeb (4)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue L(6-11)            3     7   6   6   2   1   0  18   4.12
Torrealba               3.1   3   0   0   1   1   0  13   1.66
Bair                    0.2   0   0   0   1   2   0   3   7.08
Coleman                 1     2   0   0   0   1   0   5   2.61
Totals                  8    12   6   6   4   5   0  39

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Leonard W(7-9)          9     6   2   2   1  13   0  34   3.77
Totals                  9     6   2   2   1  13   0  34

Wild Pitches: Coleman (3)
Balks: Torrealba (1)

Umpires: HP - Rich Garcia, 1B - Nestor Chylak, 2B - Steve Palermo, 3B - Joe Brinkman


ATHLETICS 1ST: Scott grounded out (second to first); Perez
struck out; Page popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Zdeb grounded out (shortstop to first); Brett
walked; McRae struck out; Cowens grounded out (second to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Gross was called out on strikes; Sanguillen
grounded out (third to first); Crawford singled to right;
McKinney walked [Crawford to second]; Murray flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Otis walked; Otis stole second; Mayberry popped to
second; Martinez flied out to left; Patek flied out to center; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Royals 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Armas struck out; Scott singled; Scott stole
second; Perez struck out; Page doubled to right [Scott scored];
Page stole third; Gross struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 1, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: White flied out to right; Zdeb singled to left;
Brett forced Zdeb (second unassisted); McRae doubled to left
[Brett scored]; Cowens flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Sanguillen grounded out (shortstop to first);
Crawford grounded out (second to first); McKinney was called out
on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Otis doubled to center; Athletics Manager Bobby
Winkles ejected by 2B umpire Steve Palermo arguing that Amos
Otis' fly was caught; Mayberry doubled to right [Otis
scored]; Martinez singled to right [Mayberry to third]; Patek
tripled to center [Mayberry scored, Martinez scored]; White
tripled [Patek scored]; TORREALBA REPLACED BLUE (PITCHING); Zdeb
hit a sacrifice fly to center [White scored]; Brett grounded out
(second to first); McRae singled to left; Torrealba balked
[McRae to second]; Cowens flied out to right; 5 R, 6 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Murray struck out; Armas struck out; Scott
singled to right; Perez popped to second in foul territory; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ROYALS 5TH: Otis flied out to right; Mayberry was called out on
strikes; Martinez singled to center; Patek forced Martinez
(second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1,
Royals 6.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Page struck out; Gross popped to second;
Sanguillen grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ROYALS 6TH: White singled to center; Zdeb grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [White out at second]; Brett
walked; McRae popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ATHLETICS 7TH: POQUETTE REPLACED ZDEB (PLAYING LF); Crawford
grounded out (third to first); McKinney flied out to center;
Murray struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ROYALS 7TH: Cowens lined to left; BAIR REPLACED TORREALBA
(PITCHING); Otis was called out on strikes; Mayberry walked;
Martinez struck out (catcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Armas singled; Scott popped to first; Perez flied
out to right; Page struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics
1, Royals 6.

ROYALS 8TH: COLEMAN REPLACED BAIR (PITCHING); Patek singled to
left; Coleman threw a wild pitch [Patek to second]; White
singled [Patek stayed at second]; Poquette popped to second;
Brett forced White (second to shortstop) [Patek to third]; McRae
struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 1, Royals 6.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Gross struck out; Sanguillen tripled; Crawford
hit a sacrifice fly to left [Sanguillen scored]; McKinney was
called out on strikes; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2,
Royals 6.