This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: June 20

A bullpen meltdown costs the Royals in a loss to Minnesota.

The Royals’ bullpen faltered in a big way, blowing an 8-5 lead over the last three innings to hand Minnesota an 11-8 win on Thursday night at Royals Stadium.

After scoring two runs in the sixth, Kansas City led 8-5 as the Twins came to bat in the seventh. But reliever Mike LaCoss walked the first three hitters to load the bases. Joe Beckwith entered the game in relief and gave up a single to Tim Teufel, scoring one run. Beckwith struck out the next two hitters, but Kirby Puckett tripled to put the Twins on top, 9-8.

Beckwith pitched a scoreless eighth inning but allowed two more runs in the ninth. With one out, Gary Gaetti doubled. Mark Salas singled to score Gaetti and took second on the throw home. Puckett’s single scored Salas for an 11-8 lead.

The game was a slugfest from the start, as the teams traded runs in the first inning. Ron Washington singled with one out in the first off Royals starter Charlie Leibrandt, then took second on a groundout and scored on a Tom Brunansky single.

It took two batters for the Royals to tie the game against Twins starter John Butcher. Willie Wilson led off with a triple and scored on Lonnie Smith’s sacrifice fly.

Minnesota recaptured the lead in the third, as Puckett led off with a single but was forced out at second on a Washington grounder. Mickey Hatcher doubled, with Washington scoring when Smith bobbled the ball. Hatcher reached third on the error and scored on Brunansky’s groundout for a 3-1 lead.

The Royals got one run back in the bottom of the third, with Wilson drawing a one-out walk and stealing second. He took third on a deep fly ball from Smith and scored on George Brett’s single.

But the Twins chased Leibrandt from the game in the fourth. Roy Smalley led off with a double and scored when Greg Gagne singled with one out. Leibrandt picked off Gagne at first, which cost the Twins a run when Tim Laudner homered. That gave the Twins a 5-2 lead and ended the evening for Leibrandt, who allowed five runs on eight hits in just 3 ⅔ innings. LaCoss took over in relief and was shaky from the start, loading the bases with two singles and a walk before getting the final out of the inning.

Then it was Kansas City’s turn to knock the starter out of the game. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Steve Balboni doubled. With two outs, four straight singles by Buddy Biancalana, Wilson, Smith, and Brett put the Royals on top 6-5. The Brett single actually drove in three runs; it was a line drive off the right field fence but bounced back to Brunansky so fast that Brett held at first. Butcher left the game, having allowed nine hits and six runs in 3 ⅔ innings.

Rick Lysander got the final out of the fourth and pitched a scoreless fifth for the Twins, but the top of the Royals’ order came through again in the sixth for two more runs. With one out, Wilson singled and stole second. Smith tripled and Brett greeted reliever Curt Wardle with an RBI single, and the Royals had an 8-5 lead. Wardle walked Hal McRae, but Frank Eufemia took over and, after a Frank White single loaded the bases, got Motley to bounce into an inning-ending double play. Eufemia and Len Whitehouse combined for 3 ⅔ scoreless innings of relief while the Twins rallied to take the lead, giving Eufemia his first major-league win.

Although they took three of the four games in the series, the Royals dropped to 33-31 with the loss. They were in third place in the AL West, 2.5 games behind Chicago.

Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCR/1985-schedule-scores.shtml

Today’s birthdays: Luis Alcaraz (1941), Dave Nelson (1944), Paul Bako (1972), Kendrys Morales (1983)