This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: July 7
A pair of three-run innings help the Royals avoid a sweep at the hands of the Orioles.
A pair of three-run innings helped the Royals avoid a four-game sweep, as Kansas City defeated Baltimore 8-4 on Sunday afternoon at Royals Stadium.
The Orioles had outscored the Royals 19-9 in the first three games of the series, and it looked like that trend would continue in the first two innings. Baltimore scored single runs against Royals starter Charlie Leibrandt in the first and second innings. Lee Lacy singled with one out in the first and moved up to second when Eddie Murray walked with two outs. Fred Lynn drove in the first run with a single. Floyd Rayford homered leading off the second for a 2-0 lead.
But the Royals took the lead with three runs in the third against Orioles starter Storm Davis and reliever Nate Snell. With one out, George Brett tripled. Jorge Orta’s single got the Royals on the board. Pat Sheridan walked and Dane Iorg singled to load the bases. Snell entered the game in relief of Davis, who had struggled through the first two innings. Frank White singled to drive in two runs, although Iorg was thrown out at third.
That put the brakes on the inning, but the Royals resumed scoring the next time up. Kansas City picked up five consecutive singles (Willie Wilson, Lonnie Smith, Brett, Orta, and Sheridan) for three more runs and a 6-2 lead.
Leibrandt worked into the seventh inning, allowing five hits and three walks on the day. He struck out five hitters. After Rayford’s home run, he retired 15 of the next 16 hitters. Baltimore got one run with a pair of doubles from Mike Young and Rick Dempsey in the seventh, but Dan Quisenberry got the final out of the inning to keep the Royals ahead 6-3.
Cal Ripken Jr. led off the eighth with a home run against Quisenberry, but the Royals tacked on two runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away. Wilson led off with a single, then reached third on pitcher Tippy Martinez’s throwing error on a pickoff. Smith walked. Brett grounded into a force out with Wilson scoring. Brett then stole second and scored on a Lynn Jones double.
The Royals improved to 40-39 with the win, avoiding the first four-game sweep at Royals Stadium in team history. It was especially important as Kansas City was headed out for a seven-game road trip before the All-Star break, with the first three games scheduled for New York. The Royals had not won in Yankee Stadium since the Pine Tar Game in 1983.
“It was important for us to get out of here today with a win. We’re going into New York now where we haven’t played well and this should give us a boost.”--Leibrandt, quoted by the Associated Press, July 8, 1985
Kansas City was in third place in the AL West, tied with Chicago. Both teams were 5.5 games behind California.
Off the field, Royals manager Dick Howser was named as a coach for the AL All-Star team by Detroit manager Sparky Anderson. The Tigers’ skipper also picked Toronto manager Bobby Cox as a coach, along with two Detroit coaches (Alex Grammas and Dick Tracewski) and Minnesota coach Tom Kelly.
Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198507070.shtml
1985 sports news: At Wimbledon, West German teen sensation Boris Becker completed his surprising run to the men’s singles title, defeating American Kevin Curren, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. Becker, not even 18 yet, became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam title and the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon. For his part, Curren had defeated two-time defending champ John McEnroe in the quarterfinals and Jimmy Connors in the semifinals, becoming the first player to defeat them both at the same major.
Today’s birthdays: Chuck Knoblauch (1968), John Buck (1980), Richard Lovelady (1995), Franmil Reyes (1995)