Completing the three-game series sweep, the A's won the A.L. West Division championship with a 4-1 victory over the Royals. Oakland grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Rickey Henderson walked, stole second and tallied on an infield single by Tony Armas.

The A's boosted their margin to 2-0 in the third with the aid of three Royals' errors. An RBI infield out by Amos Otis gave the Royals a fourth-inning run, but in the bottom of the frame Dave McKay belted a solo homer, Henderson followed with a single and Dwayne Murphy with a run-scoring double to make it 4-1. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 4, Kansas City Royals 1
Division Series Game 3 Played on Friday, October   9, 1981 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Royals       0  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   1 10  3
A's          1  0  1    2  0  0    0  0  x  -   4  7  0


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Wilson lf             4   0   2   0     0   0   .308      Henderson lf          2   3   2   0     2   0   .182
White 2b              4   1   2   0     0   1   .182      Murphy cf             4   0   2   1     0   1   .545
Brett 3b              4   0   1   0     0   0   .167      Johnson dh            4   0   1   0     0   1   .286
Aikens 1b             4   0   2   0     0   1   .333      Armas rf              3   0   1   1     1   0   .545
Otis cf               4   0   0   1     0   1   .000      Klutts 3b             4   0   0   0     0   1   .143
McRae dh              4   0   1   0     0   1   .091      Moore 1b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Hurdle rf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .273      Heath c               4   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Wathan c              4   0   1   0     0   1   .300      McKay 2b              3   1   1   1     1   1   .273
Washington ss         3   0   0   0     0   0   .222      Stanley ss            2   0   0   0     1   0   .000
Gura p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Langford p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Martin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Underwood p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Beard p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               35   1  10   1     0   6             Totals               30   4   7   3     5   5

Time of Game: 2:59   Attendance: 40,002
Left on Base: Royals 7, A's 7
DP: Royals 0, A's 1
Errors: White, Wathan, Washington
Doubles: McRae (1), Murphy (1)
Home Runs: McKay (1)
Stolen Bases: Henderson (2)
Caught Stealing: Henderson (1), Murphy (1)
GIDP: Otis (2)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Gura L(0-1)             3.2   7   4   3   3   3   1  20   7.36
Martin                  4.1   0   0   0   2   2   0  15   0.00
Totals                  8     7   4   3   5   5   1  35

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Langford W(1-0)         7.1  10   1   1   0   3   0  30   1.23
Underwood               0.1   0   0   0   0   1   0   1   0.00
Beard SV(1)             1.1   0   0   0   0   2   0   4   0.00
Totals                  9    10   1   1   0   6   0  35

Umpires: HP - Steve Palermo, 1B - Don Denkinger, 2B - Jim Evans, 3B - Jim McKean, LF - George Maloney, RF - Joe Brinkman


ROYALS 1ST: Wilson lined to pitcher; White struck out; Brett
grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson walked; Murphy flied out to left;
Johnson struck out; Henderson stole second; Armas singled to
second [Henderson scored]; Klutts flied out to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0, Athletics 1.

ROYALS 2ND: Aikens lined to left; Otis struck out; McRae
doubled; Hurdle was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Royals 0, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Moore flied out to center; Heath grounded out
(third to first); McKay walked; Stanley forced McKay (shortstop
to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0, Athletics 1.

ROYALS 3RD: Wathan grounded out (pitcher to first); Washington
grounded out (shortstop to first); Wilson flied out to right; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Henderson singled to left; Henderson was caught
stealing second but was safe at second (error by Washington;
assist by Wathan); Wathan dropped a foul fly hit by Murphy for
an error; Murphy singled to second [Henderson scored (error by
White) (unearned)]; Johnson singled to left [Murphy to third];
Armas walked [Johnson to second]; Klutts struck out; Moore
struck out; Murphy was caught stealing home (catcher
unassisted); failed squeeze bunt; 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 3 E, 2
LOB.  Royals 0, Athletics 2.

ROYALS 4TH: White singled to left; Brett popped to shortstop in
foul territory; Aikens singled to right [White to third]; Otis
forced Aikens (shortstop to second) [White scored]; McRae
grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals
1, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Heath flied out to center; McKay homered; Stanley
flied out to left; Henderson singled; Murphy doubled to right
[Henderson scored, Murphy to third (on throw to home)]; MARTIN
REPLACED GURA (PITCHING); Johnson grounded out (shortstop to
first); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 5TH: Hurdle singled to right; Wathan singled to right
[Hurdle to second]; Hurdle was picked off second (catcher to
shortstop); Washington popped to shortstop; Wilson singled to
right [Wathan to second]; White singled to center [Wathan to
third, Wilson to second]; Brett popped to first; 0 R, 4 H, 0 E,
3 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Armas grounded out (shortstop to first); Klutts
flied out to center; Moore grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 6TH: Aikens singled to second; Otis grounded into a
double play (third to second to first) [Aikens out at second];
McRae grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Heath popped to shortstop; McKay struck out;
Stanley walked; Henderson walked [Stanley to second]; Murphy was
called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 1,
Athletics 4.

ROYALS 7TH: Hurdle popped to shortstop; Wathan flied out to
left; Washington flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Johnson popped to first; Armas popped to first in
foul territory; Klutts grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 8TH: Wilson singled to right; White forced Wilson
(pitcher to shortstop); Brett singled to center [White to
second]; UNDERWOOD REPLACED LANGFORD (PITCHING); Aikens struck
out; BEARD REPLACED UNDERWOOD (PITCHING); Otis flied out to
center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Moore grounded out (shortstop to first); Heath
popped to shortstop; McKay grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.

ROYALS 9TH: McRae struck out; Hurdle flied out to left; Wathan
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 1, Athletics 4.