The Twins knocked Kansas City out of first place in the A.L. West, downing the Royals, 6-2. Minnesota trailed, 2-1, when Ron Washington drew a one-out walk in the fifth inning, stole second and came in on Gary Ward's triple. Dave Engle, who had hit a solo homer in the third, then stroked a sacrifice fly. The Twins scored in the seventh and eighth on sacrifice flies by Mickey Hatcher and Butch Wynegar, and Glenn Adams doubled home a ninth-inning run. [The Sporting News]

Minnesota Twins 6, Kansas City Royals 2

Game Played on Wednesday, September 23, 1981 (Night game) at Royals Stadium

Twins 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 - 6 11 0 Royals 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 1 Twins AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Ward lf 5 3 3 1 0 1 .268 Wilson lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .295 Engle rf 4 1 2 2 0 0 .245 White 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .244 Hatcher cf 4 0 0 1 0 0 .260 G. Brett 3b 3 1 2 0 1 0 .302 Smalley dh 2 0 0 0 1 0 .266 Mulliniks 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238 Adams ph,dh 2 0 1 1 0 0 .207 Aikens 1b 4 1 1 2 0 0 .255 Castino 2b 4 1 2 0 1 0 .264 Otis cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .262 Gaetti 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .200 McRae dh 4 0 2 0 0 0 .261 Wynegar c 3 0 1 1 0 0 .267 Wathan c 2 0 0 0 1 1 .250 Mackanin 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .223 Quirk ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .247 Corcoran 1b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .146 Hurdle rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .298 Washington ss 3 1 0 0 1 1 .222 Washington ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .221 Redfern p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Jones p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Corbett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Martin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 K. Brett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 35 6 11 6 3 4 Totals 32 2 7 2 3 3 Time of Game: 2:42 Attendance: 19,457 Left on Base: Twins 8, Royals 6 DP: Twins 1, Royals 0 Errors: Wilson Doubles: Ward (5), Adams (9) Triples: Ward (5) Home Runs: Engle (3), Aikens (16) Stolen Bases: Washington (3), Wilson (30) Caught Stealing: McRae (4) Sacrifice Flies: Engle (2), Hatcher (3), Wynegar (3) GIDP: McRae (8) Twins IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Redfern W(7-8) 7 6 2 2 3 2 1 28 4.26 Corbett SV(15) 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 2.51 Totals 9 7 2 2 3 3 1 35 Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Jones L(5-2) 6.1 6 4 4 3 3 1 28 2.73 Martin 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 6 2.72 K. Brett 1.2 2 1 1 0 1 0 7 4.15 Totals 9 11 6 5 3 4 1 41 Umpires: HP - John Shulock, 1B - Terry Cooney, 2B - Rocky Roe, 3B - Vic Voltaggio TWINS 1ST: Ward struck out; Engle homered; Hatcher made an out to shortstop; Smalley walked; Castino lined to right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. ROYALS 1ST: Wilson singled to center; White lined to center; Wilson stole second; G. Brett walked; Aikens flied out to center; Otis struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. TWINS 2ND: Gaetti flied out to right; Wynegar popped to third in foul territory; Mackanin singled to center; Washington struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. ROYALS 2ND: McRae singled to center; Wathan struck out; McRae was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Hurdle flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. TWINS 3RD: Ward made an out to second; Engle lined to center; Hatcher grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. ROYALS 3RD: Washington grounded out (third to first); Wilson lined to right; White flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. TWINS 4TH: Smalley flied out to left; Castino walked; Gaetti flied out to left; Wynegar forced Castino (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 0. ROYALS 4TH: G. Brett singled to center; Aikens homered [G. Brett scored]; On a bunt Otis made an out to catcher; McRae made an out to second; Wathan walked; Hurdle forced Wathan (third to second); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 1, Royals 2. TWINS 5TH: Mackanin lined to third; Washington walked; Washington stole second; Ward tripled to right [Washington scored]; Engle hit a sacrifice fly to left [Ward scored]; Hatcher grounded out (third to first); 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 3, Royals 2. ROYALS 5TH: Washington grounded out (pitcher to first); Wilson grounded out (third to first); White flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 3, Royals 2. TWINS 6TH: Smalley lined to left; Castino singled to left; Gaetti forced Castino (shortstop to second); Wynegar singled to left [Gaetti to second]; Mackanin struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Twins 3, Royals 2. ROYALS 6TH: G. Brett singled to left; Aikens forced G. Brett (shortstop unassisted); Otis walked [Aikens to second]; McRae grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Otis out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 3, Royals 2. TWINS 7TH: Washington flied out to center; Ward singled to center; MARTIN REPLACED JONES (PITCHING); Engle singled to center [Ward to third]; Hatcher hit a sacrifice fly to left [Ward scored]; ADAMS BATTED FOR SMALLEY; Adams grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Royals 2. ROYALS 7TH: ADAMS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); CORCORAN REPLACED MACKANIN (PLAYING 1B); Wathan grounded out (third to first); Hurdle made an out to third; Washington singled to left; Wilson flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Royals 2. TWINS 8TH: Castino singled to right; Gaetti singled to left [Castino to third (error by Wilson)]; Wynegar hit a sacrifice fly to right [Castino scored (unearned)]; K. BRETT REPLACED MARTIN (PITCHING); Corcoran was called out on strikes; Washington grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Twins 5, Royals 2. ROYALS 8TH: CORBETT REPLACED REDFERN (PITCHING); White grounded out (third to first); G. Brett grounded out (second to first); Aikens grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 5, Royals 2. TWINS 9TH: MULLINIKS REPLACED G. BRETT (PLAYING 3B); Ward doubled to right; Engle grounded out (third to first); Hatcher grounded out (third to first); Adams doubled to right [Ward scored]; Castino flied out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 6, Royals 2. ROYALS 9TH: Otis grounded out (second to first); McRae singled to right; QUIRK BATTED FOR WATHAN; Quirk struck out; Hurdle lined to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 6, Royals 2.

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet.
Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".