This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: May 26
It's the game the Royals, and George Brett, have been waiting for since he returned to the lineup.
It was the game the Royals, and George Brett in particular, had been waiting for. Since his return to the lineup on May 18, Brett had been quiet offensively. Sure, he was hitting .292, but without any home runs and only one RBI. That all changed with three hits and six RBI as the Royals downed Boston, 11-7, on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Brett gave the Royals an early lead with a first-inning single to score Willie Wilson, who singled off Red Sox starter Roger Clemens to lead off the game. Wilson stole second and moved up to third on Pat Sheridan’s single. Clemens did limit the damage to one run by getting Hal McRae on a popup and Dane Iorg to ground into a double play.
After two scoreless innings, the Red Sox roughed up Royals starter Mark Gubicza in the third. Jackie Gutierrez singled to start the inning. Wade Boggs worked a walk, and Dwight Evans homered to give Boston a 3-1 lead.
The Royals got one run back in the fourth. McRae led off with a walk and advanced to second on a Frank White single. Darryl Motley singled, but McRae was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Jim Rice. White moved up to second on the throw home, and John Wathan salvaged something from the inning with an RBI single.
The Red Sox missed a chance at a big inning in their half of the fifth. Gutierrez led off with a double and Boggs walked. An Evans single loaded the bases, but Gubicza coaxed a double play ball out of Rice, although a run scored to give Boston a 4-2 lead. Tony Armas flied out and the inning was over.
Boston tacked on another run in the sixth as Rich Gedman led off with a double and Mike Easler singled to bring him in. Gubicza recovered nicely to keep the deficit at 5-2.
The Royals rallied to take the lead in the seventh. Darryl Motley led off with a single. With one out, Onix Concepcion singled as well. Wilson grounded into a forceout at second, but Sheridan singled to score Motley. Red Sox reliever Bob Stanley took over for Clemens, but Brett hit a line drive that hit the right center field wall. That was good for a triple, two runs, and a 5-5 tie. McRae followed with a double to put Kansas City in front.
The lead didn’t last long. Reliever Mark Huismann surrendered a leadoff double to Evans. One out later, Armas homered over the Green Monster and Boston was back in front, 7-6. Paul Splittorff replaced Huismann and got the final two outs.
But the Royals responded again. White started the eighth with a single. Motley tried a sacrifice bunt but reached first safely when Stanley mishandled the ball. Wathan bunted to move both runners up. Stanley intentionally walked pinch-hitter Jorge Orta to load the bases. Wilson grounded into a forceout at second, but Motley scored to knot the score at 7-7. Sheridan singled to drive in Wilson for the lead. John Henry Johnson replaced Stanley, and Brett greeted him with his first home run of the season, a ball that bounced off the right field foul pole just 302 feet from home plate.
“So far, that’s my season…I didn’t hit the ball real good on the home run, but it’s not very far down there to the pole. It still counts, though, and I’ll take it.”--Brett, quoted by the Associated Press, May 27, 1984
“Nobody is any better than George Brett, and he hasn’t played since spring training. He has a Hall of Fame stroke.”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, May 27, 1984
Dan Quisenberry worked two scoreless innings, despite allowing a single and a double in the ninth, to seal the win.
The Royals climbed to 18-23 with the win. They remained in sixth place in the AL West, although they were only three games behind California.
Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS198405260.shtml
Today’s birthdays: Jim Frey (1931), Ben Zobrist (1981)