Royals beat Rays 9-7 for fourth straight win but lose Alex Gordon to injury

The delay lasted more than three minutes, with a three-time All-Star left fielder laying flat on the Kauffman Stadium warning track, his mobility hampered by a strained left groin.

A fourth-inning play that could shape the Royals’ season — or at least the foreseeable future — finished with Alex Gordon sitting on the back of a cart, riding through the visitor’s bullpen and into the bowels of the stadium.

As the crowd of 28,204 fans succumbed to an eerie silence, a handful of Gordon’s teammates stood on the field, nearly motionless and expressionless.

And then they marched on without him.

The Royals captured their fourth straight victory Wednesday, knocking around newly-minted All-Star pitcher Chris Archer and hanging on late for a 9-7 triumph against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Royals can sweep the four-game series with a win in Thursday’s finale.

But they will be without Gordon.

“It’s a big loss,” said pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who started for the Royals and was credited with his seventh win. “I think it took the focus off the game for a minute there. I know I struggled pretty bad that inning.”

A game that included a pair of inside-the-park home runs — one per side — was largely overshadowed by Gordon’s departure, which occurred after he tried to chase down a fly ball in the top of the fourth.

An MRI was scheduled late Wednesday to determine the severity of Gordon’s injury, but a somber locker room didn’t reflect optimism, and neither did manager Ned Yost. Gordon told the training staff that he felt a pop.

“I’m hopeful it’s not an extremely long-term thing, and (by) extremely long term, I’m talking months,” Yost said.

“You know, it could be, though.”

The Royals jumped out to a 9-3 lead after Gordon exited — and they led 9-4 entering the ninth — before closer Greg Holland struck out Grady Sizemore with the tying run on second base to seal the win.

As Gordon remained on the ground in the fourth, Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe circled the bases for an inside-the-park-home run that tied the game at 2. The next four Rays hitters reached base, resulting in a one-run advantage.

It could have been more.

Jarrod Dyson, who replaced Gordon in left field, gunned down Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer at the plate for the back end of a double play to help thwart the rally.

“He makes a play that probably saves the game for us,” Guthrie said of Dyson.

The Royals’ offense took care of the rest.

A lineup that welcomed the return of its No. 3 hitter, Lorenzo Cain, dinged Archer for a five-run fifth inning, and it supplied all of the damage with two outs.

After sitting out Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep to rest his legs, Cain returned to the lineup with a home run and three hits, the second of which scored third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.

Eric Hosmer followed that with a single to score Alcides Escobar. Kendrys Morales shot a double off the centerfield wall to score two more. Salvador Perez put the finishing touches on the rally with a single to right field to score Morales.

Cain drove in three runs and hit his seventh home run of the season when he drilled a line drive over the center-field wall in the third inning.

In sum, it ignited the seventh victory for Guthrie, who threw six innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits and four walks. Guthrie walked the bases loaded in the first inning — and threw 30 pitches in the process — before coaxing an inning-ending lineout from DeJesus.

His counterpart couldn’t find his footing.

As part of his four-hit night, Escobar fueled a sour start to Archer’s outing when he pegged Archer in the right leg with a comebacker to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Escobar later tagged him again in the fifth inning.

“That guy is tough — a good slider, a good fastball,” Escobar said. “That’s a great night. (I was) just trying to put the ball in play, and I hit it good.”

In his final presentation before his first All-Star Game appearance, Archer, 26, yielded a career-high nine runs on 12 hits, watching his earned-run average balloon from 2.18 to 2.74.

Escobar was only part of his problem.

Dyson punctuated the offensive output with a two-run inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning after his looper to left field snuck by DeJesus and rolled to the track.

Dyson’s first home run of the season marked the first MLB game since 1997 to feature inside-the-park home runs by both teams.

“My emotions were, ‘Run, Dys, run.’” Yost said.

An eventful night for Dyson.

And one that began as Alex Gordon’s backup.

Royals 9, Rays 7

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a-grounded out for DeJesus in the 8th. b-struck out for J.Butler in the 9th.

1-ran for Loney in the 9th.

E: Forsythe (4). LOB: Tampa Bay 8, Kansas City 5. 2B: A.Cabrera (14), L.Cain (18), K.Morales (22). HR: Forsythe (9), off Guthrie; Rivera (5), off Blanton; L.Cain (7), off Archer; J.Dyson (1), off Archer. RBIs: Longoria 3 (40), Loney (16), Forsythe (35), Rivera 2 (21), J.Dyson 2 (9), L.Cain 3 (39), Hosmer (42), K.Morales 2 (56), S.Perez (35). CS: A.Escobar (3).

Runners left in scoring position: Tampa Bay 5 (DeJesus 2, A.Cabrera, Sizemore 2); Kansas City 2 (Hosmer, J.Dyson). RISP: Tampa Bay 5 for 12; Kansas City 4 for 8. Runners moved up: A.Escobar. GIDP: A.Cabrera, S.Perez. DP: Tampa Bay 1 (Archer, Forsythe, Loney); Kansas City 2 (J.Dyson, J.Dyson, S.Perez), (A.Escobar, Infante, Hosmer).

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Guthrie pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

Inherited runners-scored: F.Morales 2-1, G.Holland 2-2. WP: Archer, G.Holland. PB: S.Perez.

Umpires: Home, Todd Tichenor; First, Chris Segal; Second, Tim Welke; Third, Tim Timmons. Time: 2:52. Att: 28,204.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Royals beat Rays 9-7 for fourth straight win but lose Alex Gordon to injury."