After building an early 7-0 margin, the Royals hung on to defeat the Red Sox, 7-6. K.C. grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Willie Aikens and then exploded for six runs in the fourth canto.

The outburst began with back-to-back homers by Aikens and Hal McRae and continued with run-scoring singles by Frank White and Cesar Geronimo, an RBI infield out and and a run-scoring single by Willie Wilson. Dan Quisenberry pitched 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief to preserve the victory. [The Sporting News]

Kansas City Royals 7, Boston Red Sox 6

Game Played on Saturday, May 16, 1981 (Day game) at Fenway Park

Royals 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 - 7 12 1 Red Sox 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 0 0 - 6 11 0 Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Red Sox AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Wilson lf 5 1 2 1 0 0 .275 Evans rf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .342 Wathan c 4 0 0 0 1 0 .284 Stapleton ss 4 2 3 0 0 0 .263 Aikens 1b 3 1 1 2 0 0 .314 Lansford 3b 4 2 2 1 0 1 .333 McRae dh 4 1 1 1 0 0 .226 Rice lf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .262 Otis cf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .208 Perez 1b 4 1 2 2 0 0 .241 Quirk 3b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .310 Rudi dh 4 0 1 1 0 0 .214 White 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .242 Nichols cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .231 Geronimo rf 4 1 2 1 0 0 .222 Yastrzemski ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .188 Washington ss 4 0 1 1 0 0 .212 Schmidt c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .231 Gura p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Gedman c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Quisenberry p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Remy 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .342 Eckersley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rainey p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Campbell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 36 7 12 7 1 2 Totals 35 6 11 4 1 5 Time of Game: 2:26 Attendance: 26,107 Left on Base: Royals 4, Red Sox 3 DP: Royals 3, Red Sox 2 Errors: Wilson Doubles: Wilson (3), Otis (5), Stapleton 2 (3), Lansford (9), Rudi (2) Home Runs: Aikens (5), McRae (1), Perez (4) Stolen Bases: Wilson (2), Washington (1), Remy (2) Caught Stealing: Rice (1) Sacrifice Flies: Aikens (2) GIDP: Wilson (1), Geronimo (1), Remy (3), Perez (3), Rudi (1) Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Gura W(4-3) 6.1 9 6 5 1 3 1 27 3.13 Quisenberry SV(2) 2.2 2 0 0 0 2 0 9 4.50 Totals 9 11 6 5 1 5 1 36 Red Sox IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Eckersley L(3-3) 3.1 8 7 7 0 1 2 17 6.41 Rainey 4 4 0 0 1 1 0 17 1.89 Campbell 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.48 Totals 9 12 7 7 1 2 2 38 Umpires: HP - Jerry Neudecker, 1B - Larry McCoy, 2B - Durwood Merrill, 3B - Dave Phillips ROYALS 1ST: Wilson doubled to right; Wathan grounded out (first unassisted) [Wilson to third]; Aikens hit a sacrifice fly to left [Wilson scored]; McRae flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 1ST: Evans struck out; Stapleton singled to left; Lansford struck out; Rice forced Stapleton (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 1, Red Sox 0. ROYALS 2ND: Otis struck out; Quirk flied out to left; White popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 2ND: Perez flied out to right; Rudi grounded out (second to first); Nichols flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Red Sox 0. ROYALS 3RD: Geronimo flied out to center; Washington singled to left; Wilson grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to shortstop to first) [Washington out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 3RD: Schmidt grounded out (second to first); Remy grounded out (second to first); Evans struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Red Sox 0. ROYALS 4TH: Wathan grounded out (third to first); Aikens homered; McRae homered; Otis doubled to left; Quirk singled to left [Otis to third]; White singled to right [Otis scored, Quirk to third]; Geronimo singled to center [Quirk scored, White to third]; RAINEY REPLACED ECKERSLEY (PITCHING); Washington grounded out (pitcher to first) [White scored, Geronimo to second]; Wilson singled to center [Geronimo scored]; Wilson stole second; Wathan walked; Aikens grounded out (pitcher to first); 6 R, 7 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 4TH: Stapleton doubled to left; Lansford doubled to right [Stapleton scored]; Rice flied out to right [Lansford to third]; Perez homered [Lansford scored]; Rudi grounded out (third to first); Nichols grounded out (shortstop to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 3. ROYALS 5TH: McRae grounded out (shortstop to first); Otis struck out; Quirk grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 3. RED SOX 5TH: Schmidt singled to left; Remy grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to first) [Schmidt out at second]; Evans flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 3. ROYALS 6TH: White grounded out (third to first); Geronimo singled to center; Washington forced Geronimo (shortstop unassisted); Washington stole second; Wilson flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 3. RED SOX 6TH: Stapleton doubled to left; Lansford singled to left [Stapleton to third]; Rice walked [Lansford to second]; Perez grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Stapleton scored (no RBI), Lansford to third, Rice out at second]; Rudi doubled to left [Lansford scored]; Nichols grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 5. ROYALS 7TH: Wathan grounded out (second to first); Aikens lined to right; McRae flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 5. RED SOX 7TH: Schmidt grounded out (second to first); Remy singled to left; QUISENBERRY REPLACED GURA (PITCHING); Evans was called out on strikes; Remy stole second; Stapleton reached on an error by Wilson [Remy scored (unearned) (no RBI)]; Lansford grounded out (second to first); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 6. ROYALS 8TH: Otis grounded out (shortstop to first); Quirk singled to right; White singled to left [Quirk to third]; CAMPBELL REPLACED RAINEY (PITCHING); Geronimo grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [White out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 6. RED SOX 8TH: Rice singled to left; Perez singled to left [Rice to second]; Rice was caught stealing third (catcher to shortstop to third); Rudi grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Perez out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 6. ROYALS 9TH: GEDMAN REPLACED SCHMIDT (PLAYING C ); Washington grounded out (shortstop to first); Wilson grounded out (third to first); Wathan grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 6. RED SOX 9TH: YASTRZEMSKI BATTED FOR NICHOLS; Yastrzemski grounded out (catcher to first); Gedman struck out; Remy lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 7, Red Sox 6.

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