October 9, 1977 at Royals Stadium
Yankees 5, Royals 3
Yankees Win Best of Five Game Series 3-2
The Yankees won the American League pennant for the second straight season with an exciting come from behind win over the Royals. Ron Guidry got the nod for the Yankees and the Royals tagged him early. In the first inning, Guidry was knocked around for two runs that were centered on a George Brett tripled and while the Yankees put a run on the board in the third on an RBI single by Thurman Munson, the Royals made it 3-1 and knocked Guidry out of the game in the bottom of the third when Al Cowens drove home Hal McRae with an RBI single.
Mike Torrez relieved Guidry and he was gold. He held the Royals to just three hits and three walks in 5 1/3 scoreless innings and while the Yankees didn’t mount their big comeback until after he left the game, he was the guy kept things in check.
With the score still 3-1, the Yankees finally struck in the eighth inning. Willie Randolph led off with a single before Thurman Munson struck out. Lou Piniella moved Randolph over to third with a single and then Reggie Jackson came up with the clutch hit and he drove home Randolph with an RBI single.
Sparky Lyle got the final batter out in the eighth inning despite throwing his share of pitches in yesterday’s game and he stranded two runners to keep the score at 3-2 as the Yankees went to bat in the ninth. Paul Blair led off with a single and he moved to second on Roy White’s walk. Mickey Rivers then tied the game up with an RBI single that tied Blair and then Willie Randolph drove home the winning run with a sac. fly. The Yankees added a run when Mickey Rivers scored on a George Brett error but that last run turned out to be unneccesary.
Sparky Lyle put the Royals down in the ninth and the Yankees had escaped the jaws to capture the pennant. Now they’d get a chance to do what they couldn’t do in 1976 and that’s win it all.
