This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: September 18
The Royals' offensive woes against Seattle continue, as their scoreless streak reaches 26 innings and counting.
The Royals’ offense continued to slumber, as Seattle shut out Kansas City on three hits in a 6-0 win at Royals Stadium on Wednesday night.
The shutout meant that the Royals had dropped the first three games of a four-game series to the fifth-place Mariners, getting outscored 18-1. Since KC scored in the first inning of the first game of the series, their scoreless streak had reached 26 innings at the end of this game.
Unlike the previous two games, when Seattle’s starters pitched complete games, this was a team effort. Mariners starter Bill Swift left after three innings with a groin pull. Reliever Roy Thomas took over and picked up the win, despite some wildness. Although he allowed one hit in 4 1/3 innings, he walked four. But he did strike out five hitters.
Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the second against Royals starter Mark Gubicza, who had won four straight games. Dave Henderson led off with a double. John Moses singled, and stole second with one out. Spike Owen’s single scored one run. After Moses took third on a force out at second, walks to Phil Bradley and Alvin Davis forced in the second run.
After Gubicza walked two more batters to start the third, giving him six free passes on the night, reliever Mark Huismann entered the game. A bunt and a sacrifice fly produced one run, giving Seattle a 3-0 lead.
“When a guy’s won four straight, you’ve got to feel pretty good about it when he’s going out there. But you never know what’s going to happen. He had some control problems, that was all. His stuff was pretty good. But you see that in young pitchers, overpowering pitchers.”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, September 19, 1985
The Mariners added one more run in the seventh, as Jim Presley doubled with two outs and scored on Henderson’s single. They then put the game out of reach in the ninth, scoring two runs off Dan Quisenberry. Two singles and a groundout put runners at second and third, and Henderson again singled, driving in both runners for a 6-0 lead.
The good news for Kansas City was that center fielder Willie Wilson returned to the lineup after missing more than two weeks following an allergic reaction to a penicillin shot. But Wilson couldn’t spark the offense in this one, going hitless in four at-bats.
The Royals dropped to 82-63 with the loss. Coupled with California’s win, the defeat trimmed the Royals’ lead in the AL West to one game over the Angels.
Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198509180.shtml
Today’s birthday: Ken Brett (1948)