This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: April 25
An unlikely source powers the Royals to a walkoff win.
While Greg Pryor had been doing a fine job as the fill-in for the injured George Brett so far in 1984, no one expected him to hit for a lot of power. Through 540 games prior to the 1984 season, he had hit nine home runs. His 10th career homer, though, was unforgettable as it propelled Kansas City to a 3-2 walkoff win over Baltimore on Wednesday night at Royals Stadium.
Pryor’s blast capped a late-inning comeback that saw the Royals tally single runs in the sixth, eighth, and ninth innings and get starting pitcher Larry Gura off the hook for an undeserved loss.
The Orioles scored an unearned run in the first as Gary Roenicke led off with a walk. John Shelby attempted a sacrifice bunt, but catcher John Wathan threw wildly to second, trying for the force out. Instead, Baltimore had runners on first and third with no outs. Gura got Cal Ripken Jr. to ground into a double play, but Roenicke scored on the play.
Gura allowed just one hit over the next four innings, a leadoff double by Rich Dauer in the third. Gura neatly worked around that one, retiring Rick Dempsey on a fly ball before striking out Roenicke and getting a ground ball from Shelby.
But the Royals’ offense was having its own problems with Baltimore starter Storm Davis. Kansas City had just two hits through the first five innings. Both were leadoff singles, one by Darryl Motley and one by Pat Sheridan. Both runners stole second, and both were stranded at third by a succession of groundouts.
The Orioles finally broke through in the sixth. Dempsey led off with a single. With two outs, Ripken and Eddie Murray collected consecutive singles to push the lead to 2-0.
Kansas City finally put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth. Onix Concepcion led off with a single and Motley drew a walk. Sheridan bunted the runners up a base, and Jorge Orta’s fly ball brought in Concepcion to cut the Baltimore lead to 2-1.
Davis left the game after the sixth with a neck strain, but the Royals had little luck with his replacement, Sammy Stewart, who pitched a scoreless seventh. But Stewart walked Concepcion to start the eighth. Motley bunted the runner to second, and after Tippy Martinez replaced Stewart, Concepcion stole third. Pinch-hitter Leon Roberts lofted a fly ball to short right field, where Roenicke simply dropped it. That allowed Concepcion to score, tying the game.
Dan Quisenberry replaced Gura, who allowed just four hits over eight innings, and worked a perfect ninth before Pryor homered off Martinez with two outs in the bottom of the inning.
“The odds are that I’m not going to hit one out. I’ve only hit one other one out in this park in my career. But the third base umpire (Rick Reed) asked me if I thought I could hit one out the inning before and I said, ‘Sure, the wind is blowing out.’”--Pryor, quoted by United Press International, April 26, 1984
“People sometimes forget what a good player Greg Pryor is. He’s been a very good acquisition for us. He won a game for us in 1982 with a home run. He’s got some pop in his bat.”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, April 26, 1984.
Pryor ended the game hitting .321/.357/.453 for the season, definitely a suitable replacement for Brett, who was expected to miss a few more weeks with the knee injury he suffered at the end of spring training.
The Royals evened their record at 8-8 with the win. They were in fourth place in the AL West, 1.5 games behind California.
Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198404250.shtml
Today’s birthdays: Chuck Harrison (1941), Bob Johnson (1943), Dave Owen (1958), J.P. Howell (1983), Eric Stout (1993)