Top Royals individual hitting performances

KANSAS CITY -- It’s not often a position player can dominate a game all by himself. He might only come to the plate four or five times over the course of a nine-inning game. But there are some days where it seems like a certain hitter is the only player on the field, and oftentimes, those days turn into record-setting days.

Take Game 3 of the 1985 American League Championship Series: George Brett went 4-for-4 with two homers and a double and scored four of the club’s six runs in its 6-5 win. He hit the game-tying homer and scored the go-ahead run, and he even had one of the best defensive plays in his career at third base when he backhanded a play and threw out a runner a home.

In the regular season, there have been Royals hitters -- including Brett -- that have similarly commanded a game. Here are five notable single-game hitting performances in Royals history:

1. Aug. 2, 1987: Seitzer’s six-hit game

Key fact: 13 total bases in the Royals’ 13-5 win against the Red Sox

Of the three six-hit games in Royals history, none will top Kevin Seitzer’s game against the Red Sox in ’87, a 13-5 Royals win. At a scorching hot Royals Stadium, the rookie was unstoppable, going 6-for-6 with two home runs and a double -- 13 total bases altogether. He also scored four runs and drove in seven.

Seitzer’s first home run came in the third inning, tying the game 2-2. His second came in the fifth to put the Royals ahead 8-3. With the Royals up by five runs and Seitzer due up sixth in the bottom of the eighth inning, he would need some help from his teammates to get his chance at a sixth hit. And that’s what happened: Back-to-back singles, two strikeouts and Lonnie Smith’s double brought Seitzer to the plate. Only the image of Brett looming in the on-deck circle likely kept the Red Sox from intentionally walking such a hot hitter. Seitzer lifted a high fly to deep right that Mike Greenwell lost in the sun. It bounced off the artificial turf and into the stands for a ground-rule double, giving Seitzer his sixth hit and final two RBIs of the day.

Seitzer was an All-Star that year, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and garnered a few MVP votes to finish 20th. He led the AL in hits (207) and plate appearances (725).

2. Sept. 20, 2015: Morales’ 15 total bases

Key fact: Set franchise record for total bases in a single game

As the Royals steamrolled to their World Series championship in 2015, they had some pretty great hitting performances along the way. In late September, they had one of the most destructive offensive performances in franchise history -- and Kendrys Morales’ best game of his career in the Royals’ 10-3 win over the Tigers.

Morales had three home runs, a triple and a walk, setting a club record for 15 total bases in one game, breaking Brett’s record of 14 in 1979. He became the first Royal to hit three homers in a game since Danny Tartabull on July 6, 1991.

Morales blasted his homers in the third, fourth and eighth innings, and he led off the sixth with his third triple since 2009. Morales was not a fast man, but when he saw the ball land in the cavernous right-center gap at Comerica Park, he decided to go for third. And his name is in the record books because of it.

3. May 28, 1979: Brett hits for the cycle

Key fact: First career cycle capped by walk-off homer in extras

In 16 innings against the Orioles, Brett completed his first career cycle in the Royals’ 5-4 win at Royals Stadium. He nearly had the cycle in extra innings alone, but he got the hardest part of the feat, a triple, done in his second at-bat with one out in the third inning. His first home run came in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead, 4-3, but the Orioles tied it in the top of the ninth before the game went to extras. Then Brett took off as the game went on and on… and on.

In the bottom of the 10th, he singled to right field, and he doubled in the bottom of the 14th. But his teammates couldn’t take advantage of Brett on base, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. In the bottom of the 16th, with the game reaching the five-hour mark and the night quickly approaching 1 a.m., Brett drove the second pitch he saw from Sammy Stewart deep into the bleachers beyond the right-field fence. Game over.

In the cycle performance, Brett totaled 14 bases, drove in four of the five Kansas City runs and was 5-for-7 on the night with an intentional walk.

4. Sept. 12, 2015: Moustakas’ nine-RBI game

Key fact: Set franchise record with nine RBIs in a single game

Before the top of the sixth inning in the Royals’ eventual 14-6 victory over the Orioles, Mike Moustakas was 0-for-2 on a strikeout and a popout, and his team trailed by three runs.

By the end of the nine-inning game, Moustakas had made history.

The Royals slugger tied the game with a two-run single in the sixth. He blasted the Royals into a big lead with a grand slam in the seventh. And to end it, he added a three-run homer in the ninth. The eighth and ninth RBIs broke the Royals’ previous record of seven, done 12 times and most recently on April 7, 2013, when Billy Butler went deep for a grand slam and a three-run single.

“That’s a month’s worth of work,” Eric Hosmer said after Moustakas’ record-breaking day. “He had guys on base, and he cashed in.”

5. Aug. 17, 1980: Brett rises to .401

Key fact: 4-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs

Kansas City fans packed Royals Stadium on this mid-August day to watch their team finish out a homestand. Brett, then 27, entered the game with a .394 batting average, and in the eighth inning, he was already 3-for-3 with a walk as he stepped to the plate for the fifth time that game. Batting .400 this late in the season is generally considered unattainable, but here Brett was coming to the plate with the milestone in sight -- and in front of loud and proud Royals fans.

With two strikes against Blue Jays reliever Mike Barlow, Brett slapped a double to left field. His average rose to .401, and he stood on second base, tipping his helmet to a standing ovation. This was also game 29 of Brett’s 30-game hitting streak -- a stretch in which he hit a blazing .467 (57-for-122) with 10 doubles, three triples and six home runs while scoring 29 runs and driving in 42.

“I didn’t want to let myself down, and I didn’t want to let the fans down after the support they gave me,” Brett said afterward.

Brett reached a peak of .407 on Aug. 26 and was at .400 as late as Sept. 19. He ended the season at .390, but the Hall of Famer did win the 1980 AL batting title and MVP Award.