This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: July 11
George Brett homers in the first and Danny Jackson takes it from there as the Royals win in Cleveland.
George Brett’s home run in the first inning was the only run of the game as Danny Jackson pitched magnificently and the Royals took a 1-0 victory over the Indians at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland on Thursday night.
Brett homered off Indians starter Vern Ruhle with two outs in the first. Ruhle pitched a complete game, holding the Royals to five hits and a walk while striking out four.
“I thought we were going to score some more runs but he (Ruhle) pitched a great game. Danny pitched a great game, too, and got out of some tough situations.”--Brett, quoted by the Associated Press, July 12, 1985
Brett’s home run was his 12th of the year. With two singles as well, he pushed his season batting average to .359, a 59-point hike since he rejoined the lineup on June 16 after a pulled hamstring limited him to two pinch-hitting appearances in eight games.
Jackson also pitched a complete game, holding Cleveland to six hits and a walk while striking out four. All of Cleveland’s hits were singles, and the Indians grounded into two double plays.
Cleveland’s best scoring chance came in the fifth, when Brook Jacoby and Pat Tabler started the inning with singles. But Joe Carter grounded into a forceout at second and Carmen Castillo grounded into a double play.
In the sixth, Brett Butler singled with one out and ended up on third when Jackson made a bad pickoff throw to first. But Julio Franco and Tony Bernazard both grounded out to shortstop, and the Indians were denied.
Cleveland also had two long fly balls, hit by Franco and Andre Thornton, caught in front of the wall. Jackson worked around a one-out single in the eighth and a two-out single and passed ball in the ninth to finish off the shutout and pick up his seventh win of the season.
“He’s got an exceptional arm. He’s inexperienced in pitching in the big leagues and in games like that. It was his game to win or lose. It’s tough on a young pitcher in those tight situations, but that’s the best way to get experience in those situations.”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, July 12, 1985
“Tonight I didn’t have my real hard fastball or real good slider. My arm felt bad but I had a good sinking fastball. Early in the game I got the ball over the middle of the plate. I was lucky that those long fly balls were caught.”--Jackson, quoted by the Associated Press, July 12, 1985
The Royals improved to 42-41 with the win. They were in third place in the AL West, 6.5 games behind California.
Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE198507110.shtml
1985 baseball news: AL manager Sparky Anderson and NL manager Dick Williams named their reserves and pitching staffs for the All-Star Game, to be played July 16 in Minnesota. For the AL, the bench would consist of infielders Wade Boggs, Cecil Cooper, Damaso Garcia, Don Mattingly, Paul Molitor, and Alan Trammell; outfielders Harold Baines, Phil Bradley, Tom Brunansky, and Gary Ward; and catchers Carlton Fisk and Ernie Whitt. The AL pitchers were Bert Blyleven, Willie Hernandez, Jay Howell, Jimmy Key, Donnie Moore, Jack Morris, Dan Petry, and Dave Stieb. That meant Brett was the Royals’ only representative, although Howser was going to serve as one of the coaches. It also meant Rod Carew would not be an All-Star for the first time in his 19-year career.
For the NL, the reserves were infielders Jack Clark, Pete Rose, Ryne Sandberg, Garry Templeton, and Tim Wallach; outfielders Jose Cruz, Pedro Guerrero, Willie McGee, Dave Parker, and Tim Raines; and catchers Tony Pena and Ozzie Virgil. The NL pitching staff was Joaquin Andujar, Scott Garrelts, Dwight Gooden, Rich Gossage, LaMarr Hoyt, Jeff Reardon, Nolan Ryan, and Fernando Valenzuela.
1985 baseball news: Speaking of Ryan, he made history by becoming the first pitcher to 4,000 career strikeouts in the Astros’ 4-3 win over the New York Mets in Houston. Ryan fanned Danny Heep to start the sixth inning to reach the milestone. That was one of 11 Ks on the night for Ryan, who acknowledged the standing ovation from the crowd of 20,921 and then got back to work, striking out the side in the inning.
Today’s birthdays: Blaine Boyer (1981), Samad Taylor (1998)