This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: June 13
Darryl Motley's first-inning home run leads the Royals to a win in Seattle.
Darryl Motley slammed a three-run home run in the first inning, catapulting the Royals to a 4-3 win over the Mariners at the Kingdome on Thursday night in Seattle.
Mariners starter Bill Wilkinson, making his major league debut, struck out the first two hitters of the game. But Frank White singled, Steve Balboni walked, and Motley hit the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a 3-0 lead. It was Motley’s sixth home run of the season.
Royals catcher Jim Sundberg extended the lead with a solo home run leading off the fifth. That gave Kansas City a 4-0 lead. That was also number six on the year for the Royals’ catcher.
Royals starter Mark Gubicza was perfect for the first three innings and worked around a leadoff single in the fourth. But Seattle got back in the game in the fifth. With two outs, Ivan Calderon hit a solo home run. Darnell Coles followed with a double, and Bob Kearney singled, cutting the Kansas City lead to 4-2.
Seattle’s Alvin Davis led off the sixth with a solo home run, making the score 4-3. After a strikeout and a single, Royals manager Dick Howser turned the game over to the bullpen. Joe Beckwith got two quick outs, worked a perfect seventh inning, and struck out the side in the eighth inning, although he did have to work around a walk and wild pitch in that frame.
“You never want to come out but it was the right decision. With Beckwith and Quisenberry you have to be confident. I’m just going out there and trying to go as long and hard as I can.”--Gubicza, quoted by the Associated Press, June 14, 1985
“Beckwith did an excellent job. Joe got us into the late innings. That’s what he did so well last season. It’s beginning to look like the second half of last year.”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, June 14, 1985
Royals closer Dan Quisenberry pitched a perfect ninth to close out the game, picking up his 12th save of the season.
The Royals improved to 30-27 with the win. They were in third place in the AL West, 1.5 games behind California, who defeated Chicago to retake first place from the White Sox.
Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA198506130.shtml
1985 baseball news: The Baltimore Orioles turned back the clock, firing manager Joe Altobelli and hiring Earl Weaver, who led the team to four AL pennants and a World Series title from 1968 until he retired following the 1983 season. Altobelli guided Baltimore to another title in 1983, but the Orioles dropped to fifth place in the AL East in 1984 (albeit with an 85-77 record) and were currently in fourth place in the division, seven games behind Toronto with a 30-26 record after beating Milwaukee. Owner Edward Bennett Williams had quickly grown disenchanted with Altobelli. But the Orioles handled the change rather poorly, letting media speculation build for a day before making the change official. Because Weaver had a prior commitment on this night, Cal Ripken Sr. managed the team for one game.
1985 news: TWA Flight 847, headed from Athens to Rome, was hijacked by alleged Hezbollah members, who demanded the plane fly to Beirut. After that, they commanded the pilot fly them to Algiers. Once there, they issued demands including the release of prisoners held in conjunction with the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait; the release of more than 750 Lebanese prisoners held in Israel; immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon; and international condemnation of both Israel and the U.S.
Today’s birthdays: Darrell May (1972)