This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: July 2
George Brett homers twice and Charlie Leibrandt shuts down Oakland in a blowout win.
George Brett hit two home runs and drove in six, while Charlie Leibrandt pitched eight dominant innings in a 10-1 laugher over Oakland at Royals Stadium on Tuesday night.
Brett hit a three-run shot in the fourth and another one in the sixth. With a first inning walk and a single in the second, he enjoyed a perfect night at the plate. He ended the evening with a .336 average, a season high.
“He’s just a great, great player. We just expect him to pick us up and tonight he did it again. His first home run really took the wind out of their sails. Then later he comes back and does it again. If I pitched against him I’d probably have to walk him three or four times a game. I’m sure I’d pitch around him.”--Leibrandt, quoted by the Associated Press, July 3, 1985
Although the Royals had two runners on in the first inning, they did not score. But they made up for it with a three-spot in the second inning against Oakland starter Rick Langford. Jim Sundberg led off with a single; with one out, Dave Leeper walked. One batter later, Willie Wilson doubled to drive in Sundberg. Lonnie Smith followed with a single to score two more. Brett followed with a single, but Jorge Orta flied out to right to end the inning.
Kansas City scored three more in the fourth, as Buddy Biancalana and Wilson led off with singles. After Smith popped up to second against reliever Mike Warren, Brett hit his first home run of the game to give the Royals a 6-0 lead. It was his first roundtripper since May 29.
“I was aware I hadn’t hit one in a long time. I didn’t realize it was a month. I was selective on the pitches. In order for me to continue this, I’ve got to be selective. I walked and walked and walked. I think I lost my patience. ”--Brett, quoted by the Associated Press, July 3, 1985
The A’s finally got on the board in the sixth. After giving up a double to the second batter of the game, Leibrandt had retired 15 in a row. But with one out in the sixth, back-to-back errors on Brett and Biancalana gave the A’s a scoring chance. After a flyout, Mike Davis singled to bring in Alfredo Griffin with an unearned run, the only one Leibrandt would allow as he went eight innings, allowing six hits, striking out five and walking none.
The Royals immediately answered with their third three-run inning. This time, Biancalana and Smith drew walks before Brett went deep again, giving him 10 for the season.
Then the Royals added one more run in the eighth. Greg Pryor, who took over at third for Brett once the game got out of hand, drew a one-out walk from reliever Steve Mura. Orta doubled and Sundberg singled to make the score 10-1, where it ended.
Kansas City improved to 38-36 with the win. They were in third place in the AL West, 3.5 games behind California and now 1.5 games behind Oakland.
Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198507020.shtml
Today’s birthdays: Keith Marshall (1951), Tim Spehr (1966)