KC Royals Win 9-7 Despite Alex Gordon’s Injury

Lorenzo Cain lead the offensive barrage against All-Star Chris Archer, taking game three of the four game set 9-7 Wednesday night.

The Rays started the scoring in the top of the 3rd on a single by James Loney, scoring John Jaso to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

However, the KC Royals answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run homer by Cain, giving the Royals a 2-1 lead.

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The lead shifted quickly again, this time in scary fashion, on an inside-the-park home run by Logan Forsythe that left Alex Gordon lying face first on the warning track in pain.

Gordon was tracking the ball with his back to the infield when his knee appeared to buckle before he awkwardly fell to the ground just short of the wall.

As the Ned Yost and the training staff ran toward the wall in left field, Gordon was face down, with his right foot kicking in pain, as his teammates slowly converged toward him.

He was eventually carted off the field with a towel covering his face. Several sources, including the Kansas City Star’s Andy McCullough, soon after reported that Gordon had suffered a left groin strain.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie‘s trouble did not stop after the inside-the-park home run, giving up another run on a Rene Rivera RBI single, giving a 3-2 lead back to the Rays.

Guthrie labored through 6+ innings, giving up eight hits and walking four more, but he limited his damage, allowing just three earned runs.

The Royals picked Guthrie back up in the 5th, this time building a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, with a four-run 5th, that included RBI singles from Cain, Eric Hosmer, and Salvador Perez and a RBI double by Kendrys Morales.

The KC Royals then tacked on two more runs in the 6th on a Jarrod Dyson inside-the-park home run to make it a 9-3 game.

The Rays got one run in the 7th and another in the 9th, to bring them within four runs.

After John Jaso single and an Asdrubal Cabrera double put the tying run in the on-deck circle, Yost turned to closer Greg Holland to shut the door in the 9th.

However, Holland gave up consecutive singles to Evan Longoria and James Loney, making it a 9-7 game, and putting the tying run on base.

After a Forsythe line out, a Holland wild pitch put the tying run on second base before striking out Grady Sizemore to end the game.

Notables:

• Alex Gordon has reportedly been diagnosed with a left groin strain. Kansas City Star reporter Andy McCullough tweeted that Ned Yost did “not appear optimistic” and that Gordon “could be out for months.”
• Logan Forsythe and Jarrod Dyson both hit inside-the-park home runs, marking the first MLB game since May 26, 1997 that two opposing teams hit inside-the-park home runs in the same game (per Elias Sports)
• Lorenzo Cain stayed hot, going 3-4 with a home run, a double, and three RBI. Since the beginning of June, Cain is hitting .320 with a .544 SLG% and a 157 wRC+.
• Tomorrow afternoon’s contest will feature Yordano Ventura, his first start since June 12.

Next: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Kansas City Royals, at Kauffman Stadium, 1:10 p.m.; RHP Nathan Karns (4-4, 3.21 ERA) vs. RHP Yordano Ventura (3-6, 4.68 ERA)

Next: Royals Starting Rotation Needs A Savior