With all three contenders in action, George Brett won the A. L. batting championship with a mark of .333 on his 29th three-hit game of the season, but the Royals lost to the Twins, 5-3. Hal McRae, Brett's teammate, had two hits and finished with a .332 mark, while Rod Carew of the Twins, who also collected two hits, was third in the race with .331. [The Sporting News]



Minnesota Twins 5, Kansas City Royals 3
Game Played on Sunday, October   3, 1976 (Day game) at Royals Stadium
Twins        1  0  3    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   5 11  0
Royals       0  0  0    1  0  0    1  0  1  -   3  6  1


Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Kusick dh             5   1   2   0     0   0   .259      Poquette lf           4   0   0   0     0   0   .302
Ford rf               4   1   0   0     1   0   .267      Otis cf               4   1   1   0     0   0   .279
Carew 1b              4   0   2   0     1   0   .331      Brett 3b              4   2   3   2     0   0   .333
Hisle cf              5   1   2   2     0   1   .272      McRae dh              4   0   2   1     0   0   .332
Brye lf               4   1   2   1     0   0   .264      Mayberry 1b           3   0   0   0     1   1   .232
Terrell 2b            4   1   2   1     0   0   .246        Wilson pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .167
Borgmann c            4   0   1   0     0   0   .246      Cowens rf             3   0   0   0     0   0   .265
Cubbage 3b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .257        Wohlford pr,rf      1   0   0   0     0   0   .249
Gomez ss              4   0   0   0     0   0   .193      Stinson c             3   0   0   0     0   2   .263
Hughes p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Patek ss              3   0   0   0     0   1   .241
                                                          White 2b              2   0   0   0     0   1   .229
                                                            Quirk ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .246
                                                            D. Nelson 2b        0   0   0   0     0   0   .235
                                                          Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Fitzmorris p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Gura p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Mingori p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               38   5  11   4     2   1             Totals               32   3   6   3     1   5

Time of Game: 2:15   Attendance: 15,665
Left on Base: Twins 8, Royals 3
DP: Twins 0, Royals 0
Errors: Otis
Doubles: Hisle (19), Brye (11), Carew (29), Brett 2 (34)
Home Runs: Brett (7)
Stolen Bases: Terrell (11)
Caught Stealing: Carew (22)


Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hughes W(9-14)          9     6   3   3   1   5   1  33   4.98
Totals                  9     6   3   3   1   5   1  33

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff L(11-8)      4     6   4   4   2   0   0  20   3.97
Fitzmorris              2     2   0   0   0   1   0   8   3.06
Gura                    2     2   1   0   0   0   0   8   2.30
Mingori                 1     1   0   0   0   0   0   4   2.32
Totals                  9    11   5   4   2   1   0  40

Wild Pitches: Splittorff (4)

Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Jim McKean, 3B - Nick Bremigan


TWINS 1ST: Kusick grounded out (second to first); Ford walked;
Carew walked [Ford to second]; Splittorff threw a wild pitch
[Ford to third, Carew to second]; Hisle singled to center [Ford
scored, Carew to third]; Brye flied out to right; Terrell forced
Hisle (third to second); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 1, Royals
0.

ROYALS 1ST: Poquette flied out to center; Otis lined to left;
Brett lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 1, Royals
0.

TWINS 2ND: Borgmann grounded out (third to first); Cubbage
grounded out (second to first); Gomez grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 1, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: McRae flied out to center; Mayberry grounded out
(third to first); Cowens flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Twins 1, Royals 0.

TWINS 3RD: Kusick singled to left; Ford grounded out (shortstop
to first) [Kusick to second]; Carew grounded out (shortstop to
first) [Kusick to third]; Hisle doubled to left [Kusick scored];
Brye doubled to left [Hisle scored]; Terrell singled to center
[Brye scored]; Borgmann grounded out (third to first); 3 R, 4 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Stinson struck out; Patek grounded out (pitcher to
first); White lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4,
Royals 0.

TWINS 4TH: Cubbage grounded out (shortstop to first); Gomez
grounded out (second to first); Kusick singled to left; Ford
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 0.

ROYALS 4TH: Poquette popped to second; Otis singled to left;
Brett doubled to right [Otis scored, Brett out at third (right
to second to third)]; McRae singled to center; Mayberry grounded
out (pitcher to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 1.

TWINS 5TH: FITZMORRIS REPLACED SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); Carew
grounded out (second to first); Hisle struck out; Brye singled
to center; Terrell grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 1.

ROYALS 5TH: Cowens popped to first in foul territory; Stinson
flied to right in foul territory; Patek struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 1.

TWINS 6TH: Borgmann singled to center; Cubbage forced Borgmann
(shortstop to second); Gomez lined to center; Kusick flied out
to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 1.

ROYALS 6TH: White struck out; Poquette lined to right; Otis
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4,
Royals 1.

TWINS 7TH: GURA REPLACED FITZMORRIS (PITCHING); Ford flied out
to right; Carew doubled to left; Carew was caught stealing third
(catcher to third); Hisle flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 1.

ROYALS 7TH: Brett doubled to right; McRae singled to left [Brett
scored]; Mayberry struck out; Cowens forced McRae (shortstop to
second); WOHLFORD RAN FOR COWENS; Stinson struck out; 1 R, 2 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Royals 2.

TWINS 8TH: WOHLFORD STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Brye flied out
to left; Terrell singled to center; Terrell stole second;
Borgmann grounded out (third to first); Cubbage reached on an
error by Otis [Terrell scored (unearned) (no RBI)]; Gomez
grounded out (second to first); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Twins 5, Royals 2.

ROYALS 8TH: Patek popped to shortstop; QUIRK BATTED FOR WHITE;
Quirk lined to right; Poquette grounded out (first to pitcher);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 5, Royals 2.

TWINS 9TH: D. NELSON REPLACED QUIRK (PLAYING 2B); MINGORI
REPLACED GURA (PITCHING); Kusick flied out to center; Ford
popped to shortstop; Carew singled to center; Hisle flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 5, Royals 2.

ROYALS 9TH: Otis flied out to center; Brett hit an inside the
park homer to left; McRae grounded out (shortstop to first);
Mayberry walked; WILSON RAN FOR MAYBERRY; Wohlford grounded out
(shortstop to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 5, Royals 3.