This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: August 8

The Royals can't solve Don Sutton in a loss to Milwaukee.

The Royals couldn’t solve Don Sutton, as the veteran righthander limited Kansas City to six hits over seven innings as the Brewers picked up a 3-2 win on Wednesday night at Royals Stadium.

Sutton struck out four batters without issuing any walks. His first strikeout of the game, Pat Sheridan in the first inning, gave him 19 seasons with at least 100 strikeouts to set a new major league record. Sutton had been tied with Walter Johnson, Gaylord Perry, and Cy Young with 18 seasons.

The Brewers, who snapped a 10-game losing streak, gave Sutton an early lead with a run in the second inning against Royals starter Bud Black. Mark Brouhard singled with one out but was forced out at second on a Bobby Clark grounder. Willie Lozado hit a line drive to right field that got past Sheridan and rolled to the wall. Lozado was credited with a triple as Clark scored.

Despite Milwaukee collecting four singles over the next three innings, the score remained 1-0 into the sixth. Cecil Cooper and Brouhard started the inning with two more singles. The Royals pulled off a double play when Clark struck out and Cooper was thrown out trying to steal third, but Lozado singled to score Brouhard for a 2-0 lead.

Bill Schroeder then led off the seventh with a home run, giving Milwaukee a 3-0 lead. The Brewers also had a double and a walk in the inning, but Black escaped without further damage.

Kansas City had just three hits over the first six innings but finally got on the board in the seventh. Dane Iorg singled with one out. With two outs, Darryl Motley swatted his ninth home run of the year, cutting the Brewers’ lead to 3-2. Don Slaught followed with a single but was stranded at first.

Rick Waits replaced Sutton for the eighth inning and immediately found himself in trouble as Willie Wilson singled and Sheridan walked. But Waits struck out George Brett, then retired pinch-hitters Hal McRae and Greg Pryor to end the inning. Waits retired the Royals in order in the ninth for his third save of the season.

With the loss, the Royals dropped to 55-57. They were in fourth place in the AL West and remained 3.5 games behind Minnesota.

Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198408080.shtml

1984 sports news: Carl Lewis picked up his third gold medal of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, this one with an Olympic record time of 19.80 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Lewis, seeking to equal Jesse Owens’ four golds in the 1936 Olympics, had already won the 100-meter dash and the long jump. His fourth event, the 400-meter relay, was scheduled for Saturday. 

Today’s birthdays: Jeremy Hill (1977), Alexis Gomez (1978), Blake Wood (1985)