Reggie Jackson drove in four runs, including two with a homer, and Tommy John gained his 18th victory of the season as the Yankees defeated the Royals, 7-3. The Yankees jumped on Paul Splittorff for three runs in the first inning. Willie Randolph walked, stole second, advanced to third on a bunt by Bobby Murcer and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Lou Piniella. George Scott singled and Jackson followed with his homer.

The Yankees then clinched the decision with three more runs in the fifth. Murcer and Piniella singled. Scott doubled for one run and Jackson singled to drive in two others. The defeat dropped the Royals out of first place in the West division. [The Sporting News]



New York Yankees 7, Kansas City Royals 3
Game Played on Friday, August    31, 1979 (Night game) at Yankee Stadium I
Royals       0  1  0    0  0  0    0  2  0  -   3  6  0
Yankees      3  0  0    0  3  0    1  0  x  -   7 10  1


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Yankees              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Wilson lf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .309      Randolph 2b           2   2   0   0     3   0   .275
McRae dh              4   0   1   2     0   1   .280      Murcer cf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .254
Otis cf               4   0   1   0     0   1   .295      Piniella lf           3   1   1   1     0   0   .305
Brett 3b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .332      Scott dh              4   2   3   2     0   0   .252
Cowens rf             3   1   1   0     1   0   .300      Jackson rf            4   1   2   4     0   2   .294
Porter c              2   0   1   0     1   0   .299      Chambliss 1b          4   0   1   0     0   0   .277
White 2b              2   0   0   1     0   0   .247      Nettles 3b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .249
  Hurdle ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .231      Stanley ss            4   0   1   0     0   1   .224
Wathan 1b             3   0   0   0     0   2   .220      Gulden c              3   0   1   0     1   0   .170
  LaCock ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .278      John p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Washington ss         3   1   1   0     0   0   .254        Gossage p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Martin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Mingori p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               31   3   6   3     2   6             Totals               32   7  10   7     4   4

Time of Game: 2:23   Attendance: 35,229
Left on Base: Royals 5, Yankees 7
DP: Royals 0, Yankees 2
Errors: Stanley
Doubles: McRae (27), Scott (18), Gulden (2)
Home Runs: Jackson (22)
Stolen Bases: Randolph (27), Scott (2)
Sacrifice Hits: Murcer (1)
Sacrifice Flies: White (7), Piniella (6)
GIDP: White (9), Brett (6)
Hit by Pitch: Porter (6,by John)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff L(13-14)     5     7   6   6   2   2   1  24   4.00
Martin                  1.2   1   1   1   1   1   0   7   9.37
Mingori                 1.1   2   0   0   1   1   0   7   5.59
Totals                  8    10   7   7   4   4   1  38

Yankees                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
John W(18-6)            7     6   3   3   2   4   0  29   2.96
Gossage                 2     0   0   0   0   2   0   6   3.21
Totals                  9     6   3   3   2   6   0  35

Hit by Pitch: John (3)
Wild Pitches: John (10)
Balks: John (1)

Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - Ken Kaiser, 2B - Rocky Roe, 3B - Ron Luciano


ROYALS 1ST: Wilson was called out on strikes; McRae struck out;
Otis grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 0, Yankees 0.

YANKEES 1ST: Randolph walked; Randolph stole second; Murcer out
on a sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Randolph to third];
Piniella hit a sacrifice fly to left [Randolph scored]; Scott
singled to center; Scott stole second; Jackson homered [Scott
scored]; Chambliss singled to left; Nettles grounded out (second
to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0, Yankees 3.

ROYALS 2ND: Brett grounded out (first unassisted); Cowens
singled to center; Porter singled to right [Cowens to third];
White hit a sacrifice fly to left [Cowens scored]; Wathan struck
out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 3.

YANKEES 2ND: Stanley popped to first in foul territory; Gulden
walked; Randolph popped to catcher in foul territory; Murcer
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 3.

ROYALS 3RD: Washington grounded out (first to pitcher); Wilson
grounded out (first unassisted); McRae grounded out (shortstop
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 3.

YANKEES 3RD: Piniella popped to second; Scott flied out to
center; Jackson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1,
Yankees 3.

ROYALS 4TH: Otis singled to center; John balked [Otis to
second]; Brett lined to center; Cowens walked; Porter walked
[Otis to third, Cowens to second]; White grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [Porter out at second]; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 3.

YANKEES 4TH: Chambliss grounded out (shortstop to first);
Nettles grounded out (second to first); Stanley grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 3.

ROYALS 5TH: Wathan struck out; Washington grounded out (pitcher
to first); Wilson grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 3.

YANKEES 5TH: Gulden grounded out (first to pitcher); Randolph
grounded out (shortstop to first); Murcer singled to center;
Piniella singled to right [Murcer to third]; Scott doubled to
left [Murcer scored, Piniella to third]; Jackson singled to
right [Piniella scored, Scott scored]; Chambliss lined to
center; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 6.

ROYALS 6TH: McRae reached on an error by Stanley; Otis forced
McRae (shortstop to second); Brett grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [Otis out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 1
E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 6.

YANKEES 6TH: MARTIN REPLACED SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); Nettles
flied out to center; Stanley struck out; Gulden popped to first;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 6.

ROYALS 7TH: Cowens grounded out (second to first); Porter was
hit by a pitch; John threw a wild pitch [Porter to second];
White grounded out (third to first); Wathan lined to right; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Yankees 6.

YANKEES 7TH: Randolph walked; Murcer flied out to center;
Piniella grounded out (second to first) [Randolph to second];
Scott singled to left [Randolph scored]; MINGORI REPLACED MARTIN
(PITCHING); Jackson struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1,
Yankees 7.

ROYALS 8TH: Washington singled to left; Wilson singled to left
[Washington to second]; McRae doubled to left [Washington
scored, Wilson scored]; GOSSAGE REPLACED JOHN (PITCHING); Otis
struck out; Brett flied out to left; Cowens flied out to right;
2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 3, Yankees 7.

YANKEES 8TH: Chambliss grounded out (first to pitcher); Nettles
flied out to right; Stanley singled to center; Gulden doubled to
left [Stanley to third]; Randolph was walked intentionally;
Murcer popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3
LOB.  Royals 3, Yankees 7.

ROYALS 9TH: Porter popped to third; HURDLE BATTED FOR WHITE;
Hurdle struck out; LACOCK BATTED FOR WATHAN; LaCock grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Yankees 7.