This Date In Royals History--1984 Edition: September 20
The Royals are out-Witted by California.
The Royals were out-Witted by the California Angels, as Mike Witt held Kansas City to three hits in a 2-0 loss on Thursday night at Anaheim Stadium.
Witt improved to 15-11 and lowered his ERA to 3.53 with his complete game effort. He struck out seven and did not walk anyone. The Royals managed three singles, one of which was erased by a double play.
Kansas City did not get its first baserunner until the fifth, when Jorge Orta led off the inning with a single. Dane Iorg bounced into a forceout at second, but Steve Balboni singled and it looked like the Royals might have a scoring chance. Witt responded by striking out Frank White and getting Don Slaught on a fly ball to end the inning instead.
Royals starter Mark Gubicza, back with the team after missing his previous start due to tonsilitis, gamely kept his team in the contest. The Angels started the first inning well, with a Juan Beniquez double and Rod Carew walk, but Gubicza got a double play from Fred Lynn and struck out Doug DeCinces.
The Angels got six hits off Gubicza, and four of them came in the third. Bob Boone led off with a single but was caught stealing. With two outs, singles by Beniquez, Carew, and Lynn produced a run, the only one Witt would need.
California’s second run came in the sixth, when Brian Downing homered with two outs. Mark Huismann replaced Gubicza and finished off the inning, then followed that with two scoreless frames.
Despite the lack of offense, the Royals ended up in a situation they would always want to see. With one out in the ninth, Pat Sheridan singled. That brought up George Brett, representing the tying run. But Brett grounded into a double play to end the game.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the game was that it was played under protest by both teams. Angels manager John McNamara claimed in the second inning that Jorge Orta was using an illegal bat (after Orta flied out to right field). In the bottom of the third, Royals manager Dick Howser lodged a counter-protest, accusing Beniquez of using a doctored bat. Both bats were removed from the game and locked up for further examination.
With the loss, the Royals dropped to 78-74. They remained in first place in the AL West, but by the narrowest of margins. Kansas City was a half-game ahead of the Angels, while Minnesota won to move to one game behind the Royals. Kansas City was headed home to face Oakland for three games, while California would host Texas for three games and Minnesota was set to face Cleveland for three games.
Box score and play-by-play: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL198409200.shtml
1984 baseball news: The San Diego Padres became the second team to clinch a division title in 1984, with a 5-4 win over the Giants coupled with Houston’s loss to Los Angeles. It was the first title in the history of the Padres, who entered the National League as an expansion team in 1969, the same year the Royals began play. While they didn’t go wire-to-wire like the Detroit Tigers did, the Padres had been in first in the NL West since June 9.
Today’s birthdays: Bob Detherage (1954), Angel Sanchez (1983)