1977 ALCS recap

New York and Kansas City returned to the ALCS for the second year in a row, and again it was the Yankees who emerged victorious in a five-game battle.

Game 5 was the only contest that came down to the wire, when the Yankees needed some late offense to storm back and take the series. They got one run in the eighth, then pieced together three in the ninth -- a Mickey Rivers RBI single, a Willie Randolph sacrifice fly and a Lou Piniella ground ball to third base that resulted in an error and allowed Rivers to score.

Rivers had a series-high nine hits in the five games.

Sparky Lyle made four bullpen appearances for the Yankees, allowing one earned run over 9 1/3 innings and earning two victories. Paul Splittorff allowed four runs in 15 innings (2.40 ERA) for the Royals in two starts.

Path to the ALCS: The Yankees (100-62) won the AL East by 2 1/2 games. The Royals (102-60) won the AL West by eight games.

Managers: Billy Martin, NYY; Whitey Herzog, KC