George Brett went hitless in three official trips, dropping his average to .403, but the Royals defeated the Rangers, 4-3, on a run-scoring single by Frank White in the ninth inning. The Royals held a 3-0 lead going into the eighth when the Rangers erupted to tie the score with a two-run homer by Billy Sample and solo shot by Richie Zisk.

In the Royals' ninth, Clint Hurdle doubled with one out. After an intentional pass to Jamie Quirk, White came up and slashed the game-winning single. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 4, Texas Rangers 3
Game Played on Sunday, August    31, 1980 (Day game) at Royals Stadium
Rangers      0  0  0    0  0  0    0  3  0  -   3 10  1
Royals       0  1  0    1  1  0    0  0  1  -   4  7  0


Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rivers cf             4   1   2   0     1   0   .329      Wilson lf,cf          4   0   1   1     0   0   .329
Sample rf             4   1   2   2     0   0   .230      McRae dh              3   0   1   0     2   0   .313
  Grubb ph,rf         1   0   0   0     0   0   .296      G. Brett 3b           3   0   0   0     2   0   .403
Oliver lf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .311      Aikens 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .272
Zisk dh               4   1   1   1     0   1   .290        LaCock pr,1b        0   0   0   0     0   0   .193
Ellis 1b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .241        Chalk ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .259
  Putnam ph,1b        1   0   1   0     0   0   .276        Porter c            0   0   0   0     0   0   .272
Roberts 3b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .238      Otis cf               1   1   0   0     1   0   .259
Sundberg c            4   0   1   0     0   0   .275        Cardenal lf         2   0   0   0     0   0   .218
Richardt 2b           4   0   2   0     0   0   .333      Hurdle rf             5   1   1   0     0   1   .306
Frias ss              3   0   0   0     0   1   .238      Wathan c              0   0   0   0     0   0   .306
Clay p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Quirk pr,c,1b       3   0   2   1     1   0   .273
  Lyle p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      White 2b              3   2   1   1     2   0   .256
  Darwin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Mulliniks ss          2   0   1   1     1   0   .212
                                                            Washington ph,ss    0   0   0   0     1   0   .275
                                                          Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Quisenberry p       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               36   3  10   3     1   2             Totals               31   4   7   4    10   1

Time of Game: 2:41   Attendance: 37,390
Left on Base: Rangers 8, Royals 15
DP: Rangers 0, Royals 0
Errors: Richardt
Doubles: Oliver (33), Putnam (15), Mulliniks (2), Hurdle (27)
Home Runs: Sample (3), Zisk (19)
Stolen Bases: White 2 (15), Wilson (57), Otis (10)
Caught Stealing: Quirk (2)
Sacrifice Hits: Frias (12), Wilson (5)
Hit by Pitch: Otis (3,by Clay), Wathan (3,by Clay)


Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Clay                    4.2   4   3   3   7   0   0  27   3.16
Lyle L(3-2)             3.2   2   1   1   3   1   0  16   4.26
Darwin                  0     1   0   0   0   0   0   1   2.46
Totals                  8.1   7   4   4  10   1   0  44

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff              7.2   8   3   3   0   2   2  31   4.40
Quisenberry W(11-5)     1.1   2   0   0   1   0   0   7   2.61
Totals                  9    10   3   3   1   2   2  38

Hit by Pitch: Clay 2 (3)
Wild Pitches: Clay (5)

Umpires: HP - Mark Johnson, 1B - Russ Goetz, 2B - Dan Morrison, 3B - Ken Kaiser


RANGERS 1ST: Rivers grounded out (second to first); Sample lined
to center; Oliver doubled to left; Zisk struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Wilson grounded out (first to pitcher); McRae
singled to center; G. Brett walked [McRae to second]; Aikens
flied out to center; Otis was hit by a pitch [McRae to third, G.
Brett to second]; Hurdle popped to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.
Rangers 0, Royals 0.

RANGERS 2ND: Ellis flied out to right; Roberts flied out to
left; Sundberg singled to center; Richardt grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Wathan was hit by a pitch; QUIRK RAN FOR WATHAN;
White forced Quirk (shortstop to second); John Wathan
beaned; White stole second; Mulliniks grounded out (second
to first) [White to third]; Wilson singled to center [White
scored]; Wilson stole second; McRae flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 1.

RANGERS 3RD: QUIRK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Frias struck
out; Rivers singled to right; Sample singled to left [Rivers to
second]; Oliver flied out to left; Zisk flied out to right; 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 1.

ROYALS 3RD: G. Brett walked; Aikens grounded out (second to
first) [G. Brett to second]; Otis lined to left; Hurdle flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 1.

RANGERS 4TH: Ellis grounded out (third to first); Roberts flied
out to center; Sundberg grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Quirk grounded out (shortstop to first); White
walked; White stole second; Mulliniks doubled [White scored];
Wilson flied out to right; McRae walked; G. Brett flied out to
right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 2.

RANGERS 5TH: Richardt singled to left; Frias out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to first) [Richardt to second]; Rivers lined to
left; Sample grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 2.

ROYALS 5TH: Aikens flied out to center; Otis walked; Otis stole
second; Hurdle grounded out (second to first) [Otis to third];
Quirk singled to left [Otis scored]; White walked [Quirk to
second]; Clay threw a wild pitch [Quirk to third, White to
second]; Mulliniks walked; LYLE REPLACED CLAY (PITCHING); Wilson
lined to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 3.

RANGERS 6TH: WILSON CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING CF); CARDENAL
REPLACED OTIS (PLAYING LF); Oliver flied out to left; Zisk flied
out to center; Ellis popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 3.

ROYALS 6TH: McRae flied out to right; G. Brett grounded out
(shortstop to first); Aikens reached on an error by Richardt;
LACOCK RAN FOR AIKENS; Cardenal flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 1
E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 3.

RANGERS 7TH: LACOCK STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Roberts flied
out to left; Sundberg flied out to right; Richardt grounded out
(third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 3.

ROYALS 7TH: Hurdle struck out; Quirk singled to left; Quirk was
caught stealing second (catcher to second); White flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 0, Royals 3.

RANGERS 8TH: Frias grounded out (pitcher to first); Rivers
singled to second; Sample homered [Rivers scored]; Oliver
grounded out (shortstop to first); Zisk homered; QUISENBERRY
REPLACED SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); PUTNAM BATTED FOR ELLIS; Putnam
doubled to center; Roberts grounded out (shortstop to first); 3
R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 3, Royals 3.

ROYALS 8TH: PUTNAM STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); WASHINGTON
BATTED FOR MULLINIKS; Washington walked; Wilson out on a
sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Washington to second]; McRae
was walked intentionally; G. Brett flied out to center; CHALK
BATTED FOR LACOCK; Chalk popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Rangers 3, Royals 3.

RANGERS 9TH: PORTER REPLACED CHALK (PLAYING C ); QUIRK CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); WASHINGTON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS);
Sundberg grounded out (third to first); Richardt singled to
left; Frias grounded out (third to first) [Richardt to second];
Rivers was walked intentionally; GRUBB BATTED FOR SAMPLE; Grubb
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers
3, Royals 3.

ROYALS 9TH: GRUBB STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Cardenal flied
out to right; Hurdle doubled to right; Quirk was walked
intentionally; DARWIN REPLACED LYLE (PITCHING); White singled to
left [Hurdle scored, Quirk to second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Rangers 3, Royals 4.