Amos Otis drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the winning run as the Royals came from behind to take a 4-3 win over Baltimore at Royals Stadium.

Kansas City entered the bottom of the ninth in a 3-3 tie, with Orioles starter Scott McGregor still going strong. He hit Frank White with a pitch to start the inning, but retired the next two hitters. U L Washington singled, moving White to second. That finished McGregor’s outing. Rather than face George Brett with the game on the line, the Orioles decided to intentionally walk him, even though that loaded the bases. Reliever Tim Stoddard then walked Otis to end the game.

McGregor allowed 10 hits in his 8 2/3 innings, but walked just one batter and struck out two.

Royals starter Paul Splittorff allowed 11 hits in 8 1/3 innings, but did not walk any. He also struck out two and was able to limit the damage by getting the Orioles to ground into three double plays. Ten of Baltimore’s 11 hits were singles.

The Royals held an early 2-0 lead after single scores in the first two innings. In the first, George Brett singled with two outs and Otis doubled to drive in the first run. In the second, White doubled with one out and scored on Willie Wilson’s two-out single.

Baltimore answered with three runs in the third. Rick Dempsey led off with a double, and singles by Lenn Sakata, Mark Belanger, and Ken Singleton gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

Kansas City tied the score in the fifth with a Wilson single and Brett triple.

The Orioles threatened to take the lead in the ninth. Thanks to those double plays, Splittorff had faced the minimum 12 batters in the previous four innings, but with one out, Gary Roenicke and Al Bumbry singled. Reliever Dan Quisenberry took over and retired pinch-hitter Terry Crowley on a groundout, then struck out Pat Kelly to end the inning.

That set the stage for the Royals to capture a walkoff win in the bottom of the inning, snapping Baltimore’s 10-game winning streak. The victory put the Royals at 71-42 on the season. They were in first place in the AL West, a comfortable 13.5 games ahead of Oakland.

George Brett watch: 2-4 with a walk, a triple, an RBI, and a run scored. Brett’s hitting streak was now at 25 games. Season stats: .389/.450/.663

Box score and play-by-play:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA198008120.shtml

1980 news: The Democratic National Convention continued in New York City with some drama. Senator Ted Kennedy, who had challenged President Jimmy Carter throughout the primary season and refused to concede the nomination until the first day of the convention, addressed the crowd during the evening session. While Kennedy vowed to help Carter defeat Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in the general election, he made it quite clear that he disagreed with Carter on several policy questions, with some of Kennedy’s proposals making it into the party platform adopted later that night.

Today’s birthdays: Luis Ordaz (1975), Chris Owings (1991)