Royals Try to Take I-70 World Series to End of Road : Kansas City, Hoping for a Seventh Game, Sends Leibrandt Against Cox

The question confronting Charlie Leibrandt is primarily mental:

Can he shake off the bitter memory of his ninth-inning defeat in Game 2 and maintain Kansas City’s comeback when the I-70 World Series resumes tonight with the Royals trailing in games, 3-2?

The question confronting Danny Cox is primarily physical:

Can he shake off the discomfort of a recurring elbow inflammation, which forced him to miss his start in Game 5 Thursday night, and help St. Louis lay claim to Missouri and the world without taking this Series to a climactic seventh game?

Leibrandt, who had described that 4-2 loss to the Cardinals Sunday as the low point of his baseball career, told reporters Friday that the mental pain had lingered through the next day or two but was now gone. He will not be thinking revenge, he said, when he pitches tonight.

“If I had pitched poorly, revenge might be a factor,” he said. “I might be looking for respect. But I pitched well; I have nothing to be ashamed about. I’ve put it behind me. I feel good about my pitching right now.”

Cox, who had a bone spur removed from his elbow in 1982 and was free of pain until late September, when he began shelving his 90-m.p.h. fastball in favor of changeups, failed to attend the Friday press conference after having told club officials he would.

In fact, reporters were kept waiting for 90 minutes before representatives of the commissioner’s office found a willing Cardinal in Terry Pendleton. The surprisingly dour, often testy, sometimes belligerent mood of the Cardinals has become a source of irritation with the national media, but that’s another story.

Asked about concern over Cox, who was 18-9 with a 2.82 earned- run average during the regular season, Manager Whitey Herzog said he would have Joaquin Andujar in the bullpen tonight but was confident Cox would go a distance.

“I’m not worried about his arm,” Herzog said. “He’ll pitch good, I think. That’s not the idea. We’ve got to get going offensively.”

The absence of Vince Coleman seems to weigh heavily on the Cardinals, who have scored 12 runs in five games and are batting .196.

Willie McGee and Tito Landrum each have 7 of the 30 Cardinal hits. Ozzie Smith is 1 for 16 after batting .435 against the Dodgers. The right-field platoon of Cesar Cedeno and Andy Van Slyke is 1 for 20. The catching platoon of Darrell Porter and Tom Nieto is 1 for 14.

The Cardinals have been outscored, 15-12; outhit, 44-30, and even outrun, 4 steals to 2. The loss of Coleman, of course, is a significant factor. So is the quality pitching of the Royals.

“You talk about the Mets’ pitching, the Dodgers’ pitching,” Herzog said. “I don’t know if Kansas City’s is any better, but it’s up there with them. They ought to dominate their division for a long time. We’re actually lucky to be where we are.

“I mean, if we don’t get hellacious pitching of our own, we’re going home a loser.”

Cox opposed Leibrandt in Game 2. The St. Louis right-hander allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings. He walked three and struck out five. A concerned Herzog went to the mound at one point to ask Cox how he was.

“He told me he was fine but he had just thrown eight straight changeups,” Herzog said. “I’m not dumb.”

In the wake of John Tudor’s victory in Game 4, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead, Herzog decided to give Cox an extra day of rest and started Bob Forsch Thursday night.

“Danny could have pitched and would have pitched if we hadn’t been up by the two games,” Herzog said. “It was precautionary. I’m really not concerned about his arm.”

Leibrandt, 17-9 with the American League’s second best ERA, 2.69, during the regular season, held the Cardinals to two hits and took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning of Game 2.

He had two outs with a runner at second when Jack Clark grounded a single to left, Tito Landrum blooped a double to right, Cesar Cedeno was walked intentionally, and Pendleton blooped another double to left. Four runs scored, raising a storm of questions as to why Manager Dick Howser failed to call in Dan Quisenberry before the damage was done.

Howser insisted that Leibrandt’s stuff was still good, that he had been the victim of bad luck. Leibrandt agreed, though it wasn’t until the next day that he shared his emotions.

“It was tough enough replaying it in my own mind,” he said Friday. “It would have been too painful to stand there and talk about.”

Leibrandt said he wasn’t excited about waking up and reading about it in the papers, but he has dealt with difficult things before.

There were the trying years in Cincinnati, when he was neither fifth starter nor bullpen long man, when a catcher named Johnny Bench thought his stuff wasn’t strong enough to challenge right-handed hitters on the inside part of the plate and the young Leibrandt was too intimidated to disagree.

Now at age 29 and 28-16 in the two seasons since the Royals traded Bob Tufts to Cincinnati, Leibrandt is pitching with restored confidence and aggressiveness.

“My stuff isn’t that much different,” he said, “but I have peace of mind. I used to pray for a win. Now I go out believing I’ll win. I know I’ll be out there every five days. I mean, I couldn’t be sure about it after Game 2, but I was hoping I’d get another chance simply because it would mean we’d still be alive.”

Very much alive. The Royals, in fact, may have the Cardinals right where they want them. Ahead and favored, just the way it was in the playoff with Toronto. Now, it’s Leibrandt tonight and Bret Saberhagen Sunday, if needed. The aces of Kansas City’s full-house rotation.

“There’s pressure on both teams,” Leibrandt said, “but there’s more on St. Louis. We’re still the underdogs. No one expects us to win except the people who will be out there doing it.

“Our pitchers are on a roll now. We’ve kept their speedsters off the bases; we’ve stayed away from the big inning. We’re coming home, and that’s a positive. I know the team feels good about having me and Bret back to back.”