Royals’ Alex Gordon sits out Saturday’s game as a precaution

For just the second time this season, Royals manager Ned Yost did not pencil Alex Gordon’s name into the starting lineup.

Gordon, who left the Royals’ 3-2 win over the Orioles on Friday night in the seventh inning because of tightness in his right groin, was held out of Saturday’s contest at Kauffman Stadium. Gordon had started 34 of the Royals’ first 35 games this season.

But Gordon could be in line for three days of rest, because the Royals don’t have a game scheduled Monday.

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Yost said before Saturday’s game. “I told him even if he just feels even the slightest bit of it tomorrow, we’ll wait through the off day. He feels better today. It was kind of just more of a precaution. He felt it a little bit (so) without making it worse, we got him out. He felt better today.

“I told him we’ll do some things today, take it easy and then we’ll see how it feels tomorrow. If he doesn’t feel it, he’ll play. If he feels it, then we’ll wait through the off day. Then he’ll be ready to go for sure on Tuesday.”

Gordon threw out Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo at the plate during the third inning of Friday’s game. It was Gordon’s 77th outfield assist since 2010, the most in the major leagues. Gordon also made a couple of nice catches while playing in center field during midweek games against the Rays.

On offense, however, Gordon has struggled. He has one hit in his last 27 at-bats, and his batting average has dipped to .157. That average is ranked 186th out of 188 qualified batters in the majors, heading intto Saturday’s action. Gordon has just five doubles and zero home runs this season.

This story was originally published May 13, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Royals’ Alex Gordon sits out Saturday’s game as a precaution."