Kansas City Nips Yankees, 3-2; Royals Hold 2-0 Playoff Lead

The Kansas City Royals scored three runs in the third inning and held on to defeat the New York Yankees, 3-2, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Championship Series.

Twenty-game winner Dennis Leonard held the pinstripes to eight hits before ace reliever Dan Quisenberry came on in the ninth after Reggie Jackson's leadoff single.

The Royals managed only six hits against southpaw Rudy May but put four of those together to score all the runs that Leonard needed. With one out, Darrell Porter lined a single to left and moved to second on Frank White's Single to right. Then, speedster Willie Wilson smashed a ground triple down the right field line to knock in two runs.

Wilson came home with the winning run on a U.L. Washington double to left center.

The Yankees bounced back in the fifth on a leadoff inside-the-park home run by Graig Nettles. The shot bounced off the glove of rightfielder John Wathan's glove and careened toward the centerfield, allowing Nettles to score. Moments later, Wathan misjudged a Willie Randolph line drive which dropped in for a double and drove Brown home from first.

Results

Randolph almost tallied the tying run for the Yanks in the eighth on a Bob Watson double to left, but a strong relay from George Brett cut down the fleet-footed second baseman.

In the ninth, after Jackson's single Quisenberry got Gamble to pop to second, before Cerone singled to left. With runners on first and second, Nettles hit the first pitch sharply to White to start the game-ending double play.

The Yankees now have to win three straight--something no team has done since the playoffs began in 1969. Twenty-two-game-winner Tommy John will face Paul Splittor tonight in New York.