This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: June 18

The Royals score 10 runs for the second night in a row in another rout of Minnesota.

For the second straight game, the struggling Kansas City offense exploded for 10 runs, earning a 10-1 win over Minnesota on Tuesday night at Royals Stadium.

Kansas City had scored six runs in their eight previous games, then put up a 10-spot for the second game in a row by collecting 12 hits and three walks. Frank White led the way with three hits, while George Brett and Jim Sundberg each picked up two. White now owned a .533 average in his last five games and had improved to .254 on the season.

“I really think what’s happening now is more a matter of just having some luck. At the beginning of the year I was hitting the ball well, but everybody was making all the plays. The last couple of days, I’ve been able to have a lot of luck. I’ve hit some balls off the end of the bat for base hits. I’ve gotten jammed with some balls and been able to get a base hit. I’ve swung at bad pitches and gotten hits. When you get a lot of hits it spreads through the lineup and everybody goes up to the plate feeling good.”--White, quoted by the Associated Press, June 19, 1985

Jorge Orta started the scoring in the second inning against Minnesota starter Mike Smithson. Orta led off with an infield single and took second on the play when third baseman Gary Gaetti made a bad throw to first. White’s two-out single gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.

Brett led off the fourth with a single. With two outs, Steve Balboni doubled to score Brett, although Balboni was tagged out after he went too far past second base.

The Royals broke the game open with three runs in the fifth. White led off with a single and took second on a wild pitch. Sundberg tripled to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. Onix Concepcion was hit by a pitch. Willie Wilson’s single scored Sundberg for a 4-0 lead. One out later, Brett walked to load the bases and Orta’s sacrifice fly increased the advantage to 5-0.

White and Sundberg both singled with one out in the sixth, ending Smithson’s outing. Concepcion greeted reliever Frank Eufemia with an RBI single to push the lead to 6-0. Curt Wardle replaced Eufemia to start the seventh, but Brett led off with a double, then took third on a groundout and scored on a Darryl Motley sacrifice fly.

The Royals finished off their scoring with three runs in the eighth against Ron Davis. Sundberg and Wilson drew walks and scored on Lonnie Smith’s triple. Smith scored when Greg Pryor’s grounder to third was misplayed by Gaetti.

Royals starter Mark Gubicza took advantage of the offensive outburst to pitch seven innings before departing with a slight groin injury. He walked five but allowed only three hits while striking out two. Minnesota’s lone run came in the seventh, as Roy Smalley led off with a walk, took second on a groundout, and reached third on a Mark Salas single. Tim Teufel’s groundout scored Smalley, but Gubicza got a popup to end the inning. Gubicza evened his season record at 4-4 with the win, his third straight victory.

“At the beginning of the year I just wasn’t pitching well. I can’t make the excuse I wasn’t pitching regular. I got some confidence when (manager Dick Howser) said he was going to keep me in the rotation at Chicago. I had good movement on the fastball, it was sinking. I didn’t have the real good strikeout fastball going. I was keeping the fastball down and they were making the plays behind me.”--Gubicza, quoted by the Associated Press, June 19, 1985

The Royals improved to 32-30 with the win. 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/boxes/KCA/KCA198506180.shtml

1985 sports news: As expected, the New York Knicks used the first pick in the NBA draft to select center Patrick Ewing out of Georgetown. The Knicks had won the first-ever draft lottery to get the top spot. Although they didn’t get a title out of it, I’d say it was a pretty good selection; Ewing was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. Other Hall of Famers drafted were Chris Mullin (picked seventh by Golden State), Karl Malone (13th, Utah), Joe Dumars (18th, Detroit) and Arvydas Sabonis (77th, Atlanta). The Sabonis pick was later voided because Sabonis was under 21 at the time of the draft; Portland drafted him in 1986.

1985 news: As the hijacked TWA Flight 847 plane continued to sit on a runway at the Beirut airport, a few American reporters were allowed to interview the pilot, John Testrake, who warned against making any rescue attempts. The interviews ended after about 10 minutes when the terrorists fired warning shots in the general direction of the press. The hijackers had been slowly releasing passengers from the plane, either to be held in Lebanese prisons or set free entirely. In a nationally televised press conference, President Reagan reiterated that the U.S. would not negotiate with terrorists, or pressure other countries (meaning Israel) to do so.

Today’s birthday: Russ McGinnis (1963)