This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: July 12
Back to work for the Royals, who can't figure out the knuckleball in a loss to New York.
Phil Niekro was publicly annoyed that he did not pitch in the All-Star Game, and he took out his frustrations on the Royals, holding Kansas City to seven hits over seven innings as New York picked up a 5-2 win on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
The oldest player in the majors, the 45-year-old Niekro had been picked for the All-Star Game for the fifth time in his career. However, in those previous four games, he had only faced four batters total (and retired all four). After not appearing in Tuesday night’s game, he called himself a “wasted uniform.” Putting that behind him, he pulled into a tie for the AL lead in wins with 12 and sole possession of the ERA lead at 1.88 as he struck out five and walked two.
The Yankees’ offense helped Niekro with three runs in the first inning. With one out, Royals starter Larry Gura walked Butch Wynegar. The next four batters–Dave Winfield, Don Baylor, Roy Smalley, and Don Mattingly–all singled, the last three all producing runs. Smalley was thrown out at third for the second out and Brian Dayett popped up to end the inning.
New York added another run in the second as Bob Meacham tripled and Omar Moreno singled. That gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead, although Gura then picked off Moreno at first and then retired 16 of the next 19 hitters.
The Royals rallied in the third after leaving two men on base in the second. Willie Wilson led off with a walk and took third on Pat Sheridan’s single. With two outs, singles by Darryl Motley and Steve Balboni drove in runs, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 4-2.
But that was as close as Kansas City got. The Royals missed a scoring chance in the sixth when Motley led off with a double, but the next three batters failed to advance him.
Niekro departed after George Brett led off the eighth with a single. Reliever Dave Righetti got two fly balls and a strikeout to keep the Royals from scoring, then pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his 11th save.
The Yankees did add an insurance run in the eighth. Wynegar led off with a double, and Mark Huismann replaced Gura. The reliever got two outs, but Mike Pagliarulo singled to score Wynegar and increase the New York lead to 5-2.
The Royals dropped to 39-44 with the loss. They remained in fifth place in the AL West, four games behind Minnesota and California, who were tied for first after they both won and Chicago was swept in a doubleheader.
Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198407120.shtml
1984 news: With the Democratic National Convention just days away, Walter Mondale, the party’s presumptive nominee for president, announced that New York representative Geraldine Ferraro was his choice for vice-president. The 48-year-old Ferraro, who was in her third term in Congress, became the first woman selected for a national ticket.
Today’s birthdays: Dan Reichert (1976), Logan Porter (1995)