Al Cowens reached a personal high for RBIs with 63 by driving in five runs as the Royals defeated the Tigers, 8-1, for their seventh straight victory. In 1976, his best previous season, Cowens had 59 RBIs. The Royals' outfielder, who collected four hits, started his big night with a single in the second inning and scored on a homer by John Mayberry. Cowens then hit for the circuit with a man on base in the third, drove in a run with a single in the fifth and capped his performance with a two-run single in the sixth. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 8, Detroit Tigers 1
Game Played on Thursday, July      21, 1977 (Night game) at Tiger Stadium
Royals       0  2  3    0  1  2    0  0  0  -   8 11  1
Tigers       0  0  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  4  2


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Brett 3b              5   2   2   0     0   0   .283      LeFlore cf            4   0   0   0     0   1   .294
McRae dh              4   2   1   1     0   0   .288      Fuentes 2b            4   0   2   1     0   1   .296
Otis cf               3   0   1   0     2   0   .261      Staub dh              4   0   0   0     0   0   .240
Cowens rf             5   2   4   5     0   0   .311      Kemp lf               3   0   0   0     0   1   .270
Mayberry 1b           5   1   1   2     0   1   .233        Oglivie pr          0   0   0   0     0   0   .244
Zdeb lf               4   0   1   0     1   0   .333      Thompson 1b           4   0   1   0     0   1   .275
Porter c              5   0   0   0     0   1   .287      Stanley rf            4   0   0   0     0   1   .250
Patek ss              4   0   0   0     0   2   .263      Rodriguez 3b          3   0   0   0     0   1   .212
White 2b              4   1   1   0     0   0   .254      May c                 3   0   0   0     0   0   .254
Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Veryzer ss            3   1   1   0     0   0   .195
                                                          Roberts p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Grilli p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Wilcox p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Foucault p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               39   8  11   8     3   4             Totals               32   1   4   1     0   6

Time of Game: 2:18   Attendance: 15,262
Left on Base: Royals 8, Tigers 5
DP: Royals 0, Tigers 0
Errors: Cowens, Thompson, Rodriguez
Doubles: McRae (29), Brett (17)
Home Runs: Mayberry (15), Cowens (15)
Hit by Pitch: McRae (6,by Grilli), Kemp (4,by Splittorff)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff W(8-5)       9     4   1   0   0   6   0  33   4.12
Totals                  9     4   1   0   0   6   0  33

Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts L(4-9)          2.2   5   5   5   0   0   2  13   4.84
Grilli                  3     6   3   1   2   2   0  18   3.86
Wilcox                  2.1   0   0   0   1   1   0   9   3.41
Foucault                1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   3.63
Totals                  9    11   8   6   3   4   2  43

Hit by Pitch: Splittorff (2), Grilli (1)
Wild Pitches: Splittorff (3), Grilli (2)

Umpires: HP - Greg Kosc, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Russ Goetz, 3B - Ken Kaiser


ROYALS 1ST: Brett grounded out (second to first); McRae grounded
out (first unassisted); Otis grounded out (shortstop to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore flied out to right; Fuentes grounded out
(shortstop to first); Staub grounded out (second to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Cowens singled to left; Mayberry homered [Cowens
scored]; Zdeb grounded out (shortstop to first); Porter flied
out to right; Patek flied out to left; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 2, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Kemp struck out (catcher to first); Thompson
grounded out (second to first); Stanley lined to center; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 2, Tigers 0.

ROYALS 3RD: White singled to left; Brett grounded out (third to
first) [White to second]; McRae doubled [White scored]; Otis
flied out to center; Cowens homered [McRae scored]; GRILLI
REPLACED ROBERTS (PITCHING); Mayberry flied out to center; 3 R,
3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 5, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 3RD: Rodriguez flied out to center; May grounded out
(second to first); Veryzer singled to center; LeFlore reached on
an error by Cowens [Veryzer to third]; Fuentes singled to center
[Veryzer scored (unearned), LeFlore to second]; Staub flied out
to right; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 5, Tigers 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Zdeb singled to left; Grilli threw a wild pitch
[Zdeb to second]; Porter lined to right; Patek struck out; White
flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 5, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Kemp grounded out (pitcher to first); Thompson
grounded out (second to first); Stanley grounded out (shortstop
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 5, Tigers 1.

ROYALS 5TH: Brett doubled to left; McRae grounded out (shortstop
to first); Otis singled to left [Brett to third]; Cowens singled
[Brett scored, Otis to second]; Mayberry struck out; Zdeb walked
[Otis to third, Cowens to second]; Porter grounded out (first
unassisted); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 5TH: Rodriguez was called out on strikes; May grounded
out (shortstop to first); Veryzer popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 1.

ROYALS 6TH: Patek grounded out (second to first); White popped
to shortstop; Brett singled to right; McRae was hit by a pitch
[Brett to second]; Otis walked [Brett to third, McRae to
second]; Thompson dropped a foul fly hit by Cowens for an error;
Cowens singled to center [Brett scored (unearned), McRae scored
(unearned), Otis to third]; WILCOX REPLACED GRILLI (PITCHING);
Mayberry forced Cowens (second to shortstop); 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Royals 8, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 6TH: LeFlore struck out; Fuentes was called out on
strikes; Staub grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 8, Tigers 1.

ROYALS 7TH: Zdeb grounded out (pitcher to first); Porter lined
to center; Patek struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 8,
Tigers 1.

TIGERS 7TH: Kemp flied out to center; Thompson singled to left;
Stanley was called out on strikes; Rodriguez popped to second in
foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 8, Tigers 1.

ROYALS 8TH: White reached on an error by Rodriguez [White to
second]; Brett popped to second; McRae grounded out (third to
first); Otis walked; Cowens popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2
LOB.  Royals 8, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 8TH: May lined to left; Veryzer flied out to center;
LeFlore grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Royals 8, Tigers 1.

ROYALS 9TH: FOUCAULT REPLACED WILCOX (PITCHING); Mayberry flied
out to center; Zdeb flied out to left; Porter was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 8, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 9TH: Fuentes singled to left; Staub grounded out (first
unassisted) [Fuentes to second]; Splittorff threw a wild pitch
[Fuentes to third]; Kemp was hit by a pitch; OGLIVIE RAN FOR
KEMP; Thompson struck out; Stanley flied out to center; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 8, Tigers 1.