Overcoming their own errors and capitalizing on one by the Royals, the Angels squeezed out a 4-3 victory which upped their lead to four games over K.C. and the Twins and reduced their magic number for capturing their first title to two. Dan Ford drove in every Angels' run and Nolan Ryan spun a five-hitter.

The Royals jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Amos Otis and Al Cowens singled before a grounder by Frank White skipped off the glove of shortstop Jim Anderson for an error, Otis scoring and Cowens going to third. Ryan then threw wildly in an attempt to pick off White. Cowens scored and White advanced to second and crossed the plate one out later on a single by Hal McRae.

An error by George Brett with two out in the third loaded the bases for a two-run single by Ford, whose sacrifice fly in the fifth scored Anderson with the tying run. The deciding marker came home in the seventh. Rod Carew walked, went to second on a wild pitch, third on a bunt and scored on Ford's second sacrifice fly. [The Sporting News]



California Angels 4, Kansas City Royals 3
Game Played on Monday, September 24, 1979 (Night game) at Anaheim Stadium
Royals       0  3  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   3  5  1
Angels       0  0  2    0  1  0    1  0  x  -   4  6  2


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Angels               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Wilson lf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .315      Carew 1b              1   2   0   0     3   0   .312
McRae dh              4   0   1   1     0   2   .291      Lansford 3b           2   0   0   0     0   1   .288
Brett 3b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .329      Ford rf               2   0   1   4     0   0   .291
Porter c              3   0   0   0     0   1   .291      Baylor dh             4   0   0   0     0   0   .297
LaCock 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .275      Downing c             4   0   0   0     0   0   .321
Otis cf               4   1   1   0     0   1   .294      Grich 2b              4   0   1   0     0   1   .297
Cowens rf             3   1   1   0     1   2   .296      Clark lf              4   1   2   0     0   0   .348
White 2b              2   1   0   0     1   1   .261      R. Miller cf          3   0   1   0     0   2   .287
  Braun ph            1   0   1   0     0   0   .270      Anderson ss           3   1   1   0     0   0   .259
  Barranca pr         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Ryan p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Washington ss         1   0   0   0     1   0   .255
  Quirk ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .296
Gura p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Martin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               31   3   5   1     3   8             Totals               27   4   6   4     3   4

Time of Game: 2:27   Attendance: 40,423
Left on Base: Royals 6, Angels 6
DP: Royals 0, Angels 1
Errors: Brett, Anderson, Ryan
Doubles: Clark (2)
Stolen Bases: Wilson (77), Anderson (3)
Sacrifice Hits: Washington (6), Lansford 2 (12)
Sacrifice Flies: Ford 2 (13)
GIDP: LaCock (16)
Hit by Pitch: Porter (8,by Ryan)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Gura L(12-12)           6     6   4   2   3   3   0  28   4.57
Martin                  2     0   0   0   0   1   0   6   5.74
Totals                  8     6   4   2   3   4   0  34

Angels                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Ryan W(16-13)           9     5   3   0   3   8   0  36   3.60
Totals                  9     5   3   0   3   8   0  36

Hit by Pitch: Ryan (6)
Wild Pitches: Gura (5), Ryan (9)

Umpires: HP - Larry Barnett, 1B - Jim Evans, 2B - Al Clark, 3B - Durwood Merrill


ROYALS 1ST: Wilson singled to left; Wilson stole second; McRae
struck out; Brett grounded out (first unassisted) [Wilson to
third]; Porter struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0,
Angels 0.

ANGELS 1ST: Carew grounded out (shortstop to first); Lansford
was called out on strikes; Ford grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0, Angels 0.

ROYALS 2ND: LaCock flied out to center; Otis singled to right;
Cowens singled to left [Otis to second]; White reached on an
error by Anderson [Otis scored (unearned) (no RBI), Cowens to
third]; White was picked off first but was safe on an error by
Ryan [Cowens scored (unearned), White to second]; Washington
walked; Wilson lined to third; McRae singled to left [White
scored (unearned), Washington to second]; Brett flied out to
center; 3 R (0 ER), 3 H, 2 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 0.

ANGELS 2ND: Baylor grounded out (third to first); Downing
grounded out (third to first); Grich flied out to center; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Porter grounded out (second to first); LaCock
grounded out (shortstop to first); Otis lined to right; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 0.

ANGELS 3RD: Clark singled to left; R. Miller was called out on
strikes; Anderson lined to shortstop; Carew walked [Clark to
second]; Lansford reached on an error by Brett [Clark to third,
Carew to second]; Ford singled to left [Clark scored (unearned),
Carew scored (unearned), Lansford to second]; Baylor flied out
to left; 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 2.

ROYALS 4TH: Cowens walked; White walked [Cowens to second];
Washington out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Cowens to
third, White to second]; On a bunt Wilson grounded out (pitcher
to first); McRae struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3,
Angels 2.

ANGELS 4TH: Downing grounded out (third to first); Grich
grounded out (shortstop to first); Clark doubled to left; R.
Miller struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 2.

ROYALS 5TH: Brett flied out to left; Porter flied out to left;
LaCock flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3,
Angels 2.

ANGELS 5TH: Anderson singled to right; Anderson stole second;
Carew walked; Lansford out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second)
[Anderson to third, Carew to second]; Ford hit a sacrifice fly
to right [Anderson scored, Carew to third]; Baylor grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 3.

ROYALS 6TH: Otis was called out on strikes; Cowens struck out;
White struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch;
Washington flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 3,
Angels 3.

ANGELS 6TH: Downing flied out to right; Grich singled to second;
Clark forced Grich (shortstop to second); R. Miller singled to
center [Clark to second]; Anderson forced R. Miller (shortstop
to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 3.

ROYALS 7TH: Wilson struck out; McRae grounded out (shortstop to
first); Brett flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
3, Angels 3.

ANGELS 7TH: Carew walked; Gura threw a wild pitch [Carew to
second]; MARTIN REPLACED GURA (PITCHING); Lansford out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Carew to third]; Ford hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Carew scored]; Baylor grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 4.

ROYALS 8TH: Porter was hit by a pitch; LaCock grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Porter out at
second]; Otis grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 4.

ANGELS 8TH: Downing flied out to right; Grich struck out; Clark
popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 4.

ROYALS 9TH: Cowens struck out; BRAUN BATTED FOR WHITE; Braun
singled to right; BARRANCA RAN FOR BRAUN; QUIRK BATTED FOR
WASHINGTON; Quirk grounded out (second to first) [Barranca to
second]; Barranca was picked off second (pitcher to second); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Angels 4.