This Date In Royals History--1985 Edition: September 15
The Royals' winning streak is snapped in the first game of a doubleheader, so they start a new one in the second game.
The best way to react to the end of a winning streak? Go out and try to start a new one. That’s what the Royals did as they split a doubleheader with the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. After losing the first game 4-2 to end a four-game winning streak, Kansas City went out and hammered Oakland 7-2 in the second game.
The good news for the Royals in the first game was that three players (Lonnie Smith, Hal McRae, and Steve Balboni) collected two hits each. The bad news was that their teammates combined for two hits. A’s starter Chris Codiroli scattered six hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings. He only allowed one run, while walking one and striking out three.
The Royals scored first, when McRae led off the fourth with a double. He took third on Frank White’s groundout and scored on Balboni’s sacrifice fly.
Royals starter Charlie Leibrandt was strong for three innings, but Oakland put up four runs in the fourth. Although all four runs were unearned, it was Leibrandt’s error that opened the door. Steve Henderson and Dave Kingman started the inning with singles. With one out, a wild pitch moved them to second and third. Leibrandt struck out Jose Canseco, and when Dwayne Murphy hit a grounder back to the mound, it looked like the Royals had escaped the threat. But Leibrandt mishandled the ball, a run scored, and Murphy was safe. Mike Heath followed with a three-run home run to give Oakland a 4-1 lead.
Balboni got one run back when he homered off A’s reliever Steve Ontiveros to begin the seventh inning. But double plays in the sixth and seventh ended two Kansas City rallies. Oakland closer Jay Howell worked around a two-out single in the ninth to close out the win.
In the second game, Bud Black and George Brett got the Royals back on track. Black pitched a complete game, holding Oakland to four hits. He struck out eight and didn’t walk anyone. That earned Black his ninth win of the year.
“We’re in good shape, pitching-wise. Bud has given up throwing the changeup for his fastball and he’s been more effective with it.”--Royals manager Dick Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, September 16, 1985
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the third against A’s starter Curt Young. Onix Concepcion singled with one out. Smith doubled, picking up the RBI and putting the Royals on top.
Oakland tied the score in the bottom of the third. Mike Davis led off with the A’s first hit, a home run. Black retired the next three hitters, though.
The Royals answered with one run in the top of the fourth as White hit his 20th home run, this one with one out and no one on for a 2-1 lead.
Then Kansas City broke the game open a bit in the fifth. Concepcion and Smith started the inning with singles. Reliever Keith Atherton got pinch-hitter Omar Moreno on a popup, but Brett followed with his home run for a 5-1 lead. That broke an 0-for-18 slump and was Brett’s 25th roundtripper of the year.
“George was struggling a little, maybe pressing too much. But I never worry about him. He’s one of baseball’s great hitters. They always find a way to get over a slump.”--Howser, quoted by the Associated Press, September 16, 1985
Heath led off the fifth with a double and later scored on a Davis groundout, pulling Oakland to within 5-2. But the Royals added two runs in the eighth to put the game away.
In that inning, McRae led off with a walk. White singled and Balboni walked to load the bases. But after a double play left runners at second and third with two outs, the Royals rallied. Jim Sundberg walked ahead of Concepcion’s single, which drove in both runs for a 7-2 lead.
The doubleheader split gave the Royals an 82-60 mark on the season. California won, so the Royals were headed home for a seven-game homestand, four games with Seattle and three games with Minnesota, with a 2.5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West
Box score and play-by-play:
Game 1: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK198509151.shtml
Game 2: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK198509152.shtml
1985 baseball news: Seeking more pitching help for the last three weeks of the season, the New York Yankees acquired pitcher Joe Niekro from the Houston Astros in exchange for minor-league pitcher Jim Deshaies and two players to be named later. The deal meant that, at least for a while, Joe would be teammates with his older brother Phil. Both players were set to be free agents after the season.
1985 sports news: The rumors were true. Kansas State football coach Jim Dickey turned in his resignation, one day after the Wildcats lost to I-AA school Northern Iowa to drop to 0-2 on the young season. Assistant athletic director Lee Moon was named interim coach. Dickey, who had led K-State to its first (and only, at the time) bowl game, ended his tenure with a 24-54-2 mark.
Today’s birthdays: Gaylord Perry (1938), Paul Abbott (1967), Dennis Moeller (1967), Luke Hochevar (1983)