Baseball Playoffs Continue

Yankees Win, 6-5

Rich "The Goose" Gossage and his fine-feathered New York Yankee friends soared over Doug Bird and his flock of Kansas City Royals, 6-5, in the third game of the American League Championship Series yesterday at Yankee Stadium.

The win gives the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the series and a chance to clinch the title tonight at 8 in New York.

Although K.C. lost, Royal George Brett knocked three balls out of the park in his first three at-bats, setting a record for home runs hit in an A.L. championship game.

Brett's first homer came in the first inning off Jim "Catfish" Hunter, New York's starter. The lead was short-lived as Reggie Jackson blasted a Paul Splittorff pitch over the right field fence in the second.

Not to be outdone, Brett homered again in the third; but the Bronx Bombers came back in the fourth when captain Thurmon Munson doubled, then came home on a Reggie Jackson single. Lou Piniella followed with a single and Jackson made it home on Royal Fred Patek's throwing error.

Brett homered to start the fifth, making the score three-all until Roy White and Munson hit back-to-back singles and Jackson whacked a sacrifice fly to score White.

Rich Gossage relieved Hunter in the seventh and was hit hard in the next frame as the Royals tallied twice on an Amos Otis double, a Darrell Porter single, and an Al Cowens single.

Roy White singled to begin the Yankee eighth, bringing in Bird from the bullpen. Bird gave up only one hit, a home run to Munson which gave the Yankees the 6-5 lead they never lost. Al Hrabosky pitched shutout relief from then on for K.C., but his efforts were to no avail.

Phils Win, 9-4

The Phillies won their second national league playoff game in 3 years as they defeated the Dodgers 9-4 last night in Los Angeles, cutting the Dodgers' playoff lead to 2-1.

Steve Carlton displayed remarkable dual performances on the mound and with the bat by retiring ten in a row, going the distance, and driving in four runs.

The Phillies took the lead in the second inning when Ted Sizemore singled with two on, scoring Mike Schmidt from second. Carlton followed with a three-run blast over the left-field wall.

The assault continued in the sixth frame with four more runs, and Greg Luzinski topped off the evening with a homer in the ninth.

The Dodgers scored in the second when Ron Cey came home on a double by Bill Russell. They rallied in the third for three runs when Reggie Smith, Steve Garvey and Cey connected on back to back hits. Garvey scored once in the eighth, slugging his third homer of the playoffs.