Royals Push Angels 6 1/2 Games Back : White’s Three-Run Homer Lifts Kansas City to 5-2 Win

Monday’s holiday pairing at Anaheim Stadium pitted two teams who know what it is to labor on offense.

--The Angels have the lowest team batting in the American League.

--The Kansas City Royals have scored the fewest runs in the league.

Is this anyway to conduct a stretch drive? Is this pennant fever?

Only in the AL West, where the Angels slipped 6 1/2 games behind Minnesota by losing to the Royals, 5-2.

A crowd of 28,034 saw Charlie Leibrandt and Gene Garber hold the Angels to seven hits, three in the sixth inning, when a triple, two singles and a walk produced only one run.

A three-run homer by Frank White and a solo homer by Danny Tartabull marred an otherwise strong performance by Mike Witt, who struck out 11, tying his season high.

The Angels are 67-71 with 24 games remaining against the Royals, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians, a relatively soft schedule except that the Angels have again made it difficult for themselves by losing 5 of 6.

Now they must climb over the Royals and Oakland A’s before even thinking about the Twins.

His team’s chances?

“I’ll leave that to you guys,” Manager Gene Mauch said, addressing a group of reporters. “There’s no use even asking me that because I’m not going to throw it in until the pencil gets us, and the pencil hasn’t got us yet. I’ve seen sicker dogs than this get well in a week.”

But can the Angels maintain their confidence and conviction?

“I don’t see why we can’t,” first baseman Wally Joyner said. “We’ve got 24 games left. That’s a month. A lot of teams have gotten hot in a month. Who’s to say we can’t do it? The big thing is that we have to start taking advantage of our chances. We need some guys to get hot.”

Joyner has been carrying much of the load. He has 16 runs batted in over the last 17 games and 102 for the season. His sixth inning single accounted for the Angels’ second run after Brian Downing hit his 24th homer in the fourth.

Dick Schofield opened the sixth with a triple to dead center. Willie Wilson took two steps in before making a futile retreat. Joyner’s single scored Schofield, making it 4-2. Downing singled, putting the tying runs on base.

The left-handed Leibrandt responded after Mauch disdained the sacrifice and watched Doug DeCinces fly to left, Johnny Ray pop to first, George Hendrick walk to load the bases and Tony Armas strike out, ending the first and last Angel threat.

Garber, recently acquired from the Atlanta Braves in a move that further buried Dan Quisenberry in the Royals’ bullpen, retired the final six Angels in order for his 205th career save and first in the AL since 1974, when these same Royals traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Leibrandt is a modest 14-10 despite a 2.91 earned-run average, the league’s best. The inconsistent Royals have scored two runs or fewer in 11 of his 30 starts. He has a career record of 4-3 against the Angels, 4-1 in Anaheim.

“Except for the second game of the final series in ‘85,” Mauch said of Leibrandt, “he’s handled us pretty good. We had one shot at him like they did at us.”

Mauch alluded to the fourth inning when Witt walked the first two batters, George Brett and Danny Tartabull, and White promptly capitalized by belting his 15th homer. Tartabull hit his 27th in the sixth, after which White’s double and a single by Jamie Quirk produced the fifth Kansas City run in the eighth.

Witt is 15-11 and has not won since Aug. 17, a span of four starts.

“He had a nice curve and a nice changeup but he got too much of the plate with a couple fastballs,” Mauch said, referring to the White and Tartabull homers. Was he too cautious pitching to Brett opening the fourth?

“I don’t care who the lead-off hitter is,” Mauch said. “You’ve got to go after him every time in every situation.”

Witt was characteristically terse when approached later by Joe Buttitta and a Channel 11 camera crew.

Question: You walked Brett and Tartabull in the fourth and White homered. What happened?

Answer: I walked Brett and Tartabull and White homered.

Q: The Angels are 6 1/2 games behind with 24 to play. How do you see it?

A: I see the Angels 6 1/2 behind with 24 to play.

There was more insightful stuff in the Royals’ clubhouse.

Said the veteran White, reflecting on the race:

“I think it’s Minnesota until somebody takes it from them. They’re really the only team that’s shown any consistency. The other teams, we have to concentrate on each other. We have to kick out the Angels and Oakland.”

The Royals have something of an advantage over the Angels in that they have 12 games remaining with the two teams in front of them, Minnesota and Oakland.

Said Leibrandt:

“We’re a lot like the Angels. We’ve both really struggled, yet we’ve both found ourselves clinging to the edge of a playoff race. Now we’re both going to have to make a move. We’re going to have to be closer than 5 1/2 to give ourselves a chance.”

Angel Notes Kansas City Manager John Wathan, on the 12 remaining games with Minnesota and Oakland: “As I said when I came in (as manager), it’s in our hands.” . . . Danny Tartabull’s 27th homer set a Kansas City record for outfielders. Amos Otis hit 26 in 1976. Gene Mauch is not surprised by Tartabull’s total. “He has the best swing in baseball,” Mauch said, watching the Royals’ right fielder in batting practice. . . . Bo Jackson, with only three hits in his last 30 at-bats, was on the Royals’ bench Monday. He has been an infrequent starter recently. . . . Kirk McCaskill, who has had recurring soreness in his right elbow, will have it examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum today. . . . Angel owner Gene Autry and General Manager Mike Port will leave today to attend a quarterly owners meeting in Toronto. . . . Jerry Reuss (4-2) faces Mark Gubicza (9-16) tonight.