One of those days: Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain battles sun, wind in center field

Following the Royals’ 2-0 loss to the Mets on Tuesday, center fielder Lorenzo Cain softly crooned a few lines from a Shirelles song as he dressed.

Mama said there’ll be days like this, there’ll be days like this, my mama said ...

It was an adventurous afternoon for Cain, who battled both the bright sun and a relentless wind.

New York’s Curtis Granderson opened the game with a lazy fly to right-center field that Cain initially tracked. But at the last second, Cain lost the ball. Fortunately, right fielder Reymond Fuentes was in the area and caught it.

“It was tough,” Cain said. “The sun was right on me pretty much the entire game. It was tough, but I had Fuentes make a play for me. I completely lost the ball. I thought I had it. I actually called for it, but it went over my head, he made a play and I’m glad he was there.”

Fuentes said the sun wasn’t bad in right field until the late innings, so he was in position to make the play.

“I am in the habit to always back up my outfielders,” Fuentes said. “As soon as I saw him struggle a little bit, I just kept going with the ball to see if I could get there and I got it.”

Cain also showed off the defensive skills that have endeared him to Royals fans. In the second inning, Michael Conforto laced a Chris Young pitch into the right-center gap.

Instead of recording an extra-base hit, Conforto was just another opponent left wondering how he’d been robbed by Cain, who crashed into the wall making the grab.

The electronic board quickly lit up with this message: “HurriCAIN warning.”

“Just breaking back hard,” Cain said. “I forgot who hit it, but he put a good swing on it, just trying to get back and make a play.”

Cain also made a nice grab on a ball off the bat of Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to open the seventh inning. That was important, because the next two New York players reached base. But the Royals worked out of the jam.

Earlier in the game, Cain threw his arms into the air when he lost a ball in the sun that was easily grabbed by left fielder Alex Gordon.

The Royals don’t start many games at 3:15 p.m., when the sun can wreak havoc at Kauffman Stadium. The flags beyond the right-field fence were testament to the gusts that at times reached 30 mph.

“It was a tough sun,” Cain said. “Three o’clock games are tough; the sun is right on me and it just kind of moves over to right field. It’s a tough game, especially with the wind as well. Overall, it was just a tough outing, but that’s what we get paid to do — go out there and adjust and hopefully make plays.”

In other words, it was just one of those days.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 7:34 PM.