‘A team on a mission,’ the Royals dispatch Reds 7-1, await Redbirds

He inspires awe in teammates and incredulity in opponents. His manager says he lacks fear, and rival executives say he lacks a peer in left field. Only one man in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area can imitate the wall-crashing signature of Royals Gold Glover Alex Gordon: His 4-year-old son, Max.

On Thursday morning, hours after Kansas City’s 7-1 trouncing of the Cincinnati Reds, Gordon expects to see Max take flight. This is how the son greets his father after the father astounds with his defensive courage: Max will sprint toward a wall inside their home, holler, “Here goes Alex Gordon!” and replicate his father’s feats.

“He does it just like Daddy,” Gordon said. “He runs into the wall, falls down and lays there for about 10 seconds. So he’s got it down.”

Gordon greets this sight with laughter. Much like the Royals, he has grown used to such displays. He delivered another one on Wednesday night, crashing face-first into the chain-link fence to help the team match a franchise-record streak of 24 consecutive scoreless innings. The victory also bolstered the club to a 26-14 record, their best start in franchise history through 40 games.

By sweeping this two-game series with Cincinnati, Kansas City opened a spotlight on Kauffman Stadium for an Interstate 70 showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend. The stands will teem with humanity as the two division leaders tussle, and dreamers will forecast an All-Missouri World Series. The Royals intend to return to that stage. They refuse to waver from that goal, and the first quarter of the season has given them little reason to feel otherwise.

“We’re a team on a mission,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “We’re trying to get back to what we fell short of last year. This is a great start for us.”

Jeremy Guthrie (4-2, 4.75 ERA) extended an encouraging string of starting performances with six scoreless innings. He wiggled free from a first-inning jam and did not allow a runner to reach third base after that. He gave up a season-low five hits. The scoreless streak ended with two outs in the seventh. Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips mashed an RBI double off reliever Ryan Madson.

The offense manufactured runs in chunks, scraping and clawing at the Cincinnati pitching staff. Mike Moustakas roped three more hits. Gordon drove in two runs, and so did Kendrys Morales. Hosmer scored twice. On a night they managed only two extra-base hits, the Royals still produced seven runs.

“Last year, it seemed like the worst situation we could be in was bases loaded, nobody out, because it just seemed like we couldn’t score,” manager Ned Yost said. “And now we’re taking advantage of every one of those situations. The starting pitching is starting to round out quite nicely. It’s been a nice couple days.”

As the skies drizzled before batting practice, Yost gathered the players in right field. He held a brief meeting, which attendees said was focused on reducing the number of non-essential personnel inside the clubhouse. A bevy of friends had visited the room in recent days. Yost declined to discuss the matter during his pregame session with reporters.

“It was just something we had to clean up a little bit,” Yost said. “It was nothing major or important.”

Guthrie balanced on a wire in the first inning. He needed 25 pitches to record three outs. He loaded the bases in the process, with back-to-back walks after a one-out single.

Guthrie is not unfamiliar with these circumstances. He evaded danger by spotting a pair of fastballs outside to outfielder Marlon Byrd, then ramming a third through the zone for a strikeout. Guthrie induced a flyball from outfielder Jay Bruce to maintain the streak.

“We made some good pitches to Bruce up in the zone,” Guthrie said. “Fortunately, he chased.”

The Kansas City lineup faced a hittable target. Jason Marquis missed all of 2014 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He will turn 37 this summer and he entered Wednesday night’s game with a 6.63 ERA in seven starts.

Hosmer launched the first salvo. He blasted a double to right field in the first at-bat of the second inning and scored on Gordon’s sacrifice fly. Two innings later, the Royals cobbled together three runs on two singles, a funky fielding play by Phillips, sacrifice fly from Morales and an RBI single from Salvador Perez.

Holding a four-run lead, Guthrie faced Todd Frazier with two outs in the fifth. Phillips stood at first base. Frazier unleashed a rocket into left field. Gordon knew what had to happen next. “I just figured, ‘Screw it,’” he said.

Gordon traced the ball to the warning track. He jumped just before he reached the wall. His face collided with the chain-link fence, but he absorbed most of the impact in his knees. Inside the bullpen, the relievers erupted at the collision.

“His nose got through the other side of the fence,” said Luke Hochevar, who pitched the ninth. “I saw it.”

He bounced off the structure and fell on his back, legs spread akimbo. Then he popped to his feet, still chewing bubblegum, as the adoration washed over him.

As he removed his batting gloves, Frazier looked shocked. Wade Davis clapped his hands and wore a rare smile. Guthrie walked across the diamond muttering “wow.”

“It saves an immediate run right there that would have scored, and probably a big rally that could have scored two or three,” Guthrie said. “So I look at it as just runs taken off the board by an exceptional athlete. We have them all throughout the field. Alex never ceases to amaze in that regard. That catch is not made by 29 other left fielders.”

The fans recognized his fearlessness. A group tipped their caps to him. The rest rose for a standing ovation. Gordon looked over his left shoulder to watch a replay on the video board.

On Thursday morning, he hopes to watch a different sort of replay with Max. No one should try to imitate Gordon’s actions at home.

Unless, of course, your father is Alex Gordon.

“It’s pretty funny,” Gordon said.

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 9:55 PM with the headline "‘A team on a mission,’ the Royals dispatch Reds 7-1, await Redbirds."