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.