BIRD'S GEM, LATE RALLY PUSH ROYALS PAST BOSOX
K.C. Pulls Within 1 Game of AL West Lead
BOSTON, Aug. 27 (AP) - Doug Bird tossed a three-hit complete game shutout and
his teammates broke a scoreless tie with three ninth inning runs, pacing the
Kansas City Royals past the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The 3-0
victory, coupled with Detroit's 4-1 win at Oakland, moves the Royals to within a
game of the first place Athletics in the American League West.
Bird and Red Sox starter Ferguson Jenkins traded goose eggs for eight innings
but the Royals failed to cash in on numerous scoring opportunities throughout
the game, stranding 13 runners in all and 11 in the first eight frames. In
fact, there wasn't a single inning in which the Royals didn't manage at least
one baserunner.
In the top of the fifth, Freddie Patek led off with a single and stole
second--his 42nd stolen base on the season--putting a runner in scoring position
with no outs. Royals manager White Herzog called on Frank White to
sacrifice Patek to third, but the bunt was to the right side of the pitcher's
mound and Boston first baseman Cecil Cooper aggressively gunned down Patek
trying to advance to third. Jim Wohlford flied to left for the second out
but George Brett's base hit gave Kansas City runners on first and second.
Jenkins, however, retired Amos Otis on an infield pop up to end the inning.
In the sixth, Hal McRae and John Mayberry opened with singles, putting runners
on first and second with no outs. Again the Royals tried to move the
runners along with a bunt and again the sacrifice attempt failed, this time when
Al Cowens popped up his bunt to Cooper. Buck Martinez and Patek then
followed with routine fly balls to left to end the threat.
In the eighth, Mayberry singled with one out and was replaced by pinch runner
Dave Nelson who stole second. Cowens rolled out to first with Nelson
advancing to third on the play. Tom Poquette pinch hit for Martinez but
was walked intentionally. Bob Stinson pinch hit for Patek and struck out
to end the frame.
Meanwhile, Bird was methodically setting the Red Sox down. Denny Doyle's
one-out single in the bottom of the first was erased on Fred Lynn's
inning-ending double play grounder. Carlton Fisk singled with one out in
the second but Bird retired Cooper on a fly to right and fanned Jim Rice to
close out the inning. Lynn reached with one out in the third when first
baseman Mayberry booted his soft roller and Lynn advanced to second on a passed
ball but Bird struck out Carl Yastrzemski and ended the inning on Fisk's fly
ball to right. Similarly Bird pitched around Rice's one-out single in the
fifth--the last hit he would surrender to Boston--and White's error to open the
seventh.
In the top of the ninth, White led off with a single to right. Stubbornly,
Herzog called on Wohlford to sacrifice White into scoring position and this time
it worked out. In fact, Wohlford's bunt was so good that he beat it out
for an infield hit, putting runners on first and second. At that point,
Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson replaced Jenkins with Tom Murphy. But
Brett greeted the new pitcher with a single up the middle. Lynn's throw to
the plate was late, allowing White to score the first run of the game, and both
Wohlford and Brett advanced a base on the throw, putting runners on second and
third. Murphy fanned Otis for the first out of the frame and then walked
McRae intentionally to load the bases and set up the possibility of an
inning-ending double play. Nelson did in fact roll a grounder to second
but the Red Sox were only able to force McRae at second. Wohlford scored
to put the Royals on top 2-0. Cowens followed by lashing a single to left,
scoring Brett with the third run of the inning before Jamie Quirk flied out to
finally end the frame.
Bird took the hill in the ninth and retired Doyle on a grounder to second and
struck out Lynn. Then, he issued a free pass to Yastrzemski--Bird's only
walk of the game. With the potential tying run on deck and the bullpen
active Bird induced Fisk to ground out to White at second to end the
contest. It was the Kansas City right-hander's first shutout of the season
and his second straight excellent start. In his last two outings, Bird has
allowed one run in 17 innings of work.
Fenway Park has seen more doubles--and, by extension, more extra base hits--than
any ballpark in major league baseball this year. This contest marked only
the second time this season that a game has been completed at Fenway Park
without an extra base hit for either team. The other occasion was on May
25 when the Tigers defeated the Red Sox, 2-1.
8/27/1976, KC 76-Bos76, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 13 2 13 1 1976 Red Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 0 Royals AB R H BI AVG Red Sox AB R H BI AVG Wohlford lf 5 1 2 0 .290 Burleson ss 4 0 0 0 .305 Brett,G 3b 5 1 4 1 .350 Doyle 2b 4 0 1 0 .250 Otis cf 5 0 0 0 .273 Lynn cf 4 0 0 0 .310 McRae dh 4 0 1 0 .380 Yastrzemski lf 3 0 0 0 .255 Mayberry 1b 4 0 3 0 .254 Fisk c 3 0 1 0 .264 Nelson,D pr 1 0 0 1 .298 Cooper 1b 3 0 0 0 .266 Cowens rf 4 0 1 1 .287 Rice dh 3 0 1 0 .318 Martinez,B c 3 0 0 0 .213 Miller,R rf 3 0 0 0 .303 Poquette ph 0 0 0 0 .311 Hobson 3b 3 0 0 0 .200 Quirk 1b 1 0 0 0 .273 30 0 3 0 Patek ss 3 0 1 0 .253 Stinson ph 1 0 0 0 .203 White,F 2b 4 1 1 0 .243 40 3 13 3 Royals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Bird W 7-9 9.0 3 0 0 1 6 111 79 4.34 9.0 3 0 0 1 6 111 79 Red Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jenkins L 11-11 8.0 11 2 2 2 4 138 91 3.43 Murphy,T 1.0 2 1 1 1 1 20 10 2.91 9.0 13 3 3 3 5 158 101 KC : Nelson,D ran for Mayberry in the 8th Poquette batted for Martinez,B in the 8th Stinson batted for Patek in the 8th Nelson,D moved to 2b in the 8th Quirk inserted at 1b in the 8th Stinson moved to c in the 8th White,F moved to ss in the 8th E-Mayberry, White,F. RBI-Brett,G(75), Cowens(70), Nelson,D(23). SB-Brett,G(20), Patek(42), Nelson,D(13). K-Otis 3, Patek, Stinson, Lynn 2, Yastrzemski, Rice 2, Miller,R. BB-McRae, Cowens, Poquette, Yastrzemski. SH-Fisk. PB-Martinez,B. GWRBI: Brett,G Temperature: 84, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: right to left at 17 MPH, Rain Delays: 13 minutes. Attendance: 18,888 Game Time: 2:23