The Royals’ offense woke up late, turning a pitchers’ duel into a 6-0 win over the Brewers at County Stadium in Milwaukee.

Royals starter Dennis Leonard and Brewers starter Lary Sorensen were in command for the first five innings. Milwaukee had a scoring threat in the first as Don Money doubled with one out and took third on a wild pitch, but Leonard coolly struck out Cecil Cooper and got Sixto Lezcano to pop up, ending the threat. The Royals only had one hit through the first five innings, an Al Cowens single in the second, but he was eventually picked off first to end the inning.

At last, the Royals broke through in the sixth. With one out, Freddie Patek doubled and then reached third on a groundout. Tom Poquette singled to drive in the game’s first run. Kansas City didn’t stop there, as singles by Hal McRae and George Brett brought Poquette around to score.

A two-out rally in the seventh extended the Royals’ lead. Darrell Porter singled before Patek drew a walk. Frank White doubled, driving in both runners and ending Sorenson’s outing. Reliever Bob McClure gave up an RBI single to Joe Zdeb. He also walked McRae and hit Brett with a pitch before striking out John Mayberry to end the inning with the Royals ahead, 5-0.

Kansas City added a run in the ninth, as Zdeb singled with one out. McClure had him picked off first but made a bad throw, allowing Zdeb to reach second. McRae singled, advancing Zdeb to third, and McClure’s wild pitch brough the runner home.

Leonard didn’t need any additional runs, as he held Milwaukee to three hits and one walk. He struck out eight as he improved to 4-6 on the season and dropped his ERA to 3.93.

The win lifted the Royals to 27-28 on the season. They remained in fifth place in the AL West, five games behind Minnesota.

Box score and play-by-play:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL197706110.shtml

1977 news: Seattle Slew became the 10th horse to win racing’s Triple Crown, and the first to do so without ever losing a race, as he won the Belmont Stakes. Seattle Slew finished four lengths ahead of Run Dusty Run, who had also been runner-up at the Kentucky Derby. He was the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Secretariat in 1973.

Today’s birthdays: Odalis Perez (1978), Bobby Keppel (1982), Josh Newman (1982)