Paul Splittorff gained his 19th victory and Al Hrabosky picked up his 20th save as the Royals defeated the Twins, 3-1. Splittorff gave up six hits and six walks in 7 1/3 innings before Hrabosky relieved.

The Royals jumped off with two runs in the first inning on a walk to Steve Braun, singles by George Brett and Pete LaCock and an error by left fielder Willie Norwood in handling LaCock's hit. After Clint Hurdle homered in the second, the Royals collected only two more hits off Roger Erickson the rest of the way. Dave Edwards hit his first major league homer for the Twins' run in the fifth. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 3, Minnesota Twins 1
Game Played on Saturday, September 23, 1978 (Night game) at Metropolitan Stadium
Royals       2  1  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   3  5  0
Twins        0  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   1  6  3


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Braun lf              3   1   0   0     1   0   .265      Edwards cf            5   1   3   1     0   1   .276
  Wilson pr,lf        0   0   0   0     0   0   .219      Carew 1b              3   0   0   0     1   0   .336
Brett 3b              3   1   1   0     1   1   .289      Smalley ss            3   0   0   0     1   1   .275
Otis cf               4   0   1   0     0   2   .298      Morales dh            2   0   0   0     2   1   .323
Porter c              3   0   0   0     1   0   .269        Wilfong pr,dh       0   0   0   0     0   0   .254
LaCock 1b             3   0   1   1     0   0   .303      Norwood lf            3   0   1   0     1   0   .255
McRae dh              4   0   0   0     0   0   .273      Rivera rf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .264
Hurdle rf             3   1   1   1     1   2   .265      Randall 2b            3   0   0   0     1   0   .275
  Cowens pr,rf        0   0   0   0     0   0   .276      Wynegar c             4   0   0   0     0   0   .225
Patek ss              4   0   0   0     0   0   .251      Wolfe 3b              3   0   1   0     1   0   .240
White 2b              3   0   1   0     0   1   .276      Erickson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Hrabosky p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               30   3   5   2     4   6             Totals               30   1   6   1     7   4

Time of Game: 2:21   Attendance: 13,288
Left on Base: Royals 5, Twins 9
DP: Royals 2, Twins 1
Errors: Carew, Norwood, Randall
Home Runs: Hurdle (7), Edwards (1)
Caught Stealing: Otis (8), Wilson (12), Edwards (1)
Sacrifice Hits: LaCock (1)
GIDP: Braun (5), Randall (6)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff W(19-12)     7.1   6   1   1   6   2   1  31   3.38
Hrabosky SV(20)         1.2   0   0   0   1   2   0   6   3.00
Totals                  9     6   1   1   7   4   1  37

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Erickson L(14-13)       9     5   3   2   4   6   1  35   3.98
Totals                  9     5   3   2   4   6   1  35

Umpires: HP - Ron Luciano, 1B - Ken Kaiser, 2B - Mike Reilly, 3B - Bill Haller


ROYALS 1ST: Braun walked; Brett singled to left [Braun to
second]; Otis struck out; Porter lined to right; LaCock singled
to left [Braun scored, Brett scored (error by Norwood)
(unearned) (no RBI), LaCock to third]; McRae flied out to
center; 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 2, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Edwards singled to left; Edwards was picked off and
caught stealing second (pitcher to first to second); Carew flied
out to left; Smalley walked; Morales struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Royals 2, Twins 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Hurdle homered; Patek popped to third; White singled
to center; Braun grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [White out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 3, Twins 0.

TWINS 2ND: Norwood flied out to center; Rivera flied out to
center; Randall walked; Wynegar flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Brett flied out to left; Otis singled to left;
Porter flied out to right; Otis was picked off and caught
stealing second (pitcher to first to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 0.

TWINS 3RD: Wolfe singled to left; Edwards singled to left [Wolfe
to second]; Carew flied to left in foul territory; Smalley
popped to shortstop; Morales flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 0.

ROYALS 4TH: LaCock lined to left; McRae flied out to center;
Hurdle struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 0.

TWINS 4TH: Norwood singled to center; Rivera lined into a double
play (first unassisted) [Norwood out at first]; Randall grounded
out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 0.

ROYALS 5TH: Patek grounded out (pitcher to first); White struck
out; Braun grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 0.

TWINS 5TH: Wynegar flied out to right; Wolfe flied to right in
foul territory; Edwards homered; Carew grounded out (second to
first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 1.

ROYALS 6TH: Brett struck out; Otis flied out to right; Porter
flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 1.

TWINS 6TH: Smalley lined to center; Morales walked; Norwood
walked [Morales to second]; Rivera singled to right [Morales to
third, Norwood to second]; Randall grounded into a double play
(second to shortstop to first) [Rivera out at second]; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 1.

ROYALS 7TH: LaCock grounded out (second to first); McRae flied
out to center; Hurdle struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
3, Twins 1.

TWINS 7TH: Wynegar popped to first in foul territory; Wolfe
grounded out (third to first); Edwards grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 1.

ROYALS 8TH: Patek flied out to right; White popped to catcher in
foul territory; Braun reached on an error by Randall; WILSON RAN
FOR BRAUN; Wilson was picked off and caught stealing second but
was safe at second (error by Carew; assist by Erickson); Brett
walked; Otis was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 2 E, 2 LOB.
Royals 3, Twins 1.

TWINS 8TH: WILSON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Carew walked;
Smalley struck out; Morales walked [Carew to second]; HRABOSKY
REPLACED SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); WILFONG RAN FOR MORALES; Norwood
popped to first; Rivera was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 1.

ROYALS 9TH: WILFONG STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); Porter walked;
LaCock out on a sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Porter to
second]; McRae popped to first in foul territory; Hurdle was
walked intentionally; COWENS RAN FOR HURDLE; Patek forced Cowens
(second to shortstop); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3, Twins 1.

TWINS 9TH: COWENS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Randall lined to
third; Wynegar grounded out (third to first); Wolfe walked;
Edwards was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals
3, Twins 1.