Fred Lynn combined with Cecil Cooper on back-to-back homers in the fourth inning to give Bill Lee all the run support he would need in a 7-3 Game 5 win over the '77 Kansas City Royals. The '75 Red Sox now lead the ALCS 3-2 and can eliminate the Royals back at Kauffman Stadium in Game 6.
Lynn also had a RBI double to open the scoring in the first which was the first of four hits he collected. He hit a second double in the third inning and scored twice. Lynn is second on the Sawx in hitting in the postseason with a .389 mark and leads the team with 6 doubles.
Boston finally got what they needed out of Bill Lee who had struggled mightily in the postseason. Lee went 7 solid innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits to register his first win of the playoffs. "The Spaceman" won 17 games in the regular season to lead the Sawx staff, but had yet to make a positive impression in the playoffs with a (0-1) record in two starts and a chunky 4.50 ERA.
The Royals were banking on 22 game winner Dennis Leonard, who had yet to lose in these playoffs, but he only last 4 innings before handing the ball over to spot starter Marty Pattin for the fifth. Leonard was spanked for 9 hits and 5 earned runs to put Kansas City behind the eight ball early. Pattin held the Red Sox down for two innings, but they would get to him in his third inning of work to put the game out of reach.
Before Boston roughed up Pattin though, Kansas City made things interesting in the seventh. After Lee waltzed through the first 6 innings surrendering only 3 hits and 1 earned run, a Rico Petrocelli error on an Al Cowens grounder opened the door for the Royals. John Mayberry slammed a double to put runners on second and third, and both men would score on a RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly to narrow the score to 5-3.
Boston answered in the bottom half as Lynn stroked Pattin for a single to start things off and moved to third on a Carl Yastrzemski single and a passed ball. Lynn then came in to count on a Dwight Evans sacrifice fly. With Yastrzemski standing on second, the Royals intentionally walked Carlton Fisk to set up a double play possibility. However, pinch hitter Bernie Carbo spoiled these plans doubling off Pattin into the left field corner to score Yaz to push the lead to 7-3. Fisk was thrown out at the plate attempting to score from first.
Boston will hand the ball to Rick Wise (2-0) 3.29, who has been their most reliable starter in the postseason for a possible series clinching outing in Game 6. Kansas City will counter with Paul Splitorff (1-1) 7.30, who was lit up by the Red Sox lasting only five innings in Game 2. Splitorff also had his troubles in the regular season going (10-16) with a 5.80 ERA
The 1977 Los Angeles Dodgers now await the American League pennant winners. After spotting the 1979 Montreal Expos a 1-0 NLCS lead, Los Angeles reeled off four consecutive victories to put them in the Fall Classic. Much like they did in the NLDS against the '76 Mets, the Dodgers broke the Expos' back scoring late to pull the carpet out from under Montreal. In Game 3, Los Angeles scored twice in the ninth for a 3-2 win and put up 4 runs in the eighth and ninth to take Game 4 by the score of 4-2. The Dodgers closed out the series in Montreal with a 9-8 win in a 14 inning thriller.
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