Jim Rooker pitched well, but Baltimore shut down the Royals’ offense as the Orioles took a 3-1 victory at Municipal Stadium.

Rooker threw a complete game, allowing seven hits and only one earned run, while striking out seven and walking three. After Baltimore scored two unearned runs in the third, he retired 11 straight Orioles. But his teammates could not take advantage.

Baltimore’s two runs in the third scored on an error by Royals shortstop Juan Rios. His throwing error on Frank Robinson’s two-out grounder allowed Mark Belanger and Don Buford to score. But Rooker struck out Boog Powell to end the inning.

Baltimore starter Tom Phoebus retired the first 10 Royals he faced, and after Paul Schaal ended that streak with a single, got Joe Foy to ground into a double play. In the fifth, Phoebus issued a leadoff walk to Ed Kirkpatrick but retired Bob Oliver on a fly ball and Ellie Rodriguez on another double play. So Phoebus faced the minimum 15 hitters through five innings.

But the Royals broke through in the sixth. Jerry Adair led off with a single and moved to second on Rios’ groundout. When Rooker singled to right, Adair raced home to cut Baltimore’s lead to 2-1.

The Royals could get no closer, though. Kansas City managed a leadoff walk in the seventh and a one-out single in the eighth, but Orioles reliever Dick Hall was just as strong as Phoebus had been, and neither runner could even advance to second.

The Orioles tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on three singles, with Hall driving in the run. The Royals had a two-out single in the ninth but nothing else.

The loss dropped the Royals to 42-61 on the season, which put them in fourth place in the AL West, 21.5 games behind Minnesota.

Box score and play-by-play:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA196907310.shtml

Today’s birthdays: Scott Bankhead (1963)