The Royals clinched their third straight West division championship as Larry Gura pitched a three hitter to beat the Mariners, 4-1. The Royals tallied three times in the fifth inning to put the game away.

Hal McRae led off with a single and took third on a double by Freddie Patek. Frank White hit a grounder and reached first base safely as McRae beat the throw to the plate. A walk to George Brett loaded the bases and a single by Amos Otis then produced two more runs. Doubles by Pete LaCock and Al Cowens added another marker in the sixth. [The Sporting News]

Kansas City Royals 4, Seattle Mariners 1

Game Played on Tuesday, September 26, 1978 (Night game) at Royals Stadium

Mariners 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 3 0 Royals 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 x - 4 8 0 Mariners AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Cruz 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .241 Braun lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .255 Reynolds ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .286 Wilson lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .220 Paciorek 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .299 Brett 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .291 Roberts rf 3 1 2 1 0 0 .303 Otis cf 4 0 2 2 0 0 .299 Robertson dh 1 0 0 0 2 0 .225 Porter c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .266 Stanton lf 2 0 0 0 1 0 .182 LaCock 1b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .303 Ruppert Jones cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .241 McRae dh 4 1 1 0 0 0 .273 Bernhardt 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .230 Cowens rf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .275 Stinson c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .257 Patek ss 3 1 1 0 0 1 .252 Abbott p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 White 2b 3 1 0 1 0 0 .277 Gura p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 27 1 3 1 3 0 Totals 32 4 8 4 2 1 Time of Game: 1:42 Attendance: 22,415 Left on Base: Mariners 2, Royals 6 DP: Mariners 1, Royals 3 Doubles: Roberts (19), Reynolds (16), Brett (44), Patek (23), LaCock (21), Cowens (24) Triples: Porter (6) Home Runs: Roberts (22) GIDP: Stanton 2 (6), Ruppert Jones (14), LaCock (8) Mariners IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Abbott L(7-14) 8 8 4 4 2 1 0 34 5.08 Totals 8 8 4 4 2 1 0 34 Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Gura W(16-4) 9 3 1 1 3 0 1 30 2.76 Totals 9 3 1 1 3 0 1 30 Umpires: HP - Bill Kunkel, 1B - Al Clark, 2B - Terry Cooney, 3B - Bill Deegan MARINERS 1ST: Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); Reynolds grounded out (pitcher to first); Paciorek grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Royals 0. ROYALS 1ST: Braun popped to shortstop; Brett doubled to left; Otis flied out to right; Porter lined to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Royals 0. MARINERS 2ND: Roberts doubled to left; Robertson walked; Stanton grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Roberts to third, Robertson out at second]; Ruppert Jones grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Royals 0. ROYALS 2ND: LaCock grounded out (shortstop to first); McRae flied out to center; Cowens popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Royals 0. MARINERS 3RD: Bernhardt grounded out (shortstop to first); Stinson grounded out (shortstop to first); Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Royals 0. ROYALS 3RD: Patek was called out on strikes; White popped to second; Braun walked; Brett flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Royals 0. MARINERS 4TH: Reynolds flied out to center; Paciorek popped to second; Roberts homered; Robertson grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 0. ROYALS 4TH: Otis singled to left; Porter flied out to right; LaCock grounded into a double play (first to shortstop to first) [Otis out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 0. MARINERS 5TH: Stanton walked; Ruppert Jones grounded into a double play (pitcher to shortstop to first) [Stanton out at second]; Bernhardt lined to pitcher; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 0. ROYALS 5TH: McRae singled to left; Cowens popped to third; Patek doubled to left [McRae to third]; White reached on a fielder's choice [McRae scored, Patek to third]; Braun popped to shortstop; Brett walked [White to second]; Otis singled [Patek scored, White scored, Brett to third]; Porter grounded out (second to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 3. MARINERS 6TH: Stinson lined to third; Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); Reynolds doubled to right; Paciorek lined to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 3. ROYALS 6TH: LaCock doubled to left; McRae grounded out (second to first) [LaCock to third]; Cowens doubled to left [LaCock scored]; Patek grounded out (shortstop to first); White grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 4. MARINERS 7TH: Roberts lined to shortstop; Robertson walked; Stanton grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Robertson out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 4. ROYALS 7TH: Braun grounded out (second to first); Brett grounded out (second to first); Otis flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 4. MARINERS 8TH: WILSON REPLACED BRAUN (PLAYING LF); Ruppert Jones grounded out (shortstop to first); Bernhardt grounded out (second to first); Stinson flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 4. ROYALS 8TH: Porter tripled to left; LaCock lined to first; McRae popped to catcher in foul territory; Cowens grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 4. MARINERS 9TH: Cruz grounded out (shortstop to first); Reynolds grounded out (first to pitcher); Paciorek grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 1, Royals 4.

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