KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As Alex Gordon twisted his way off the warning track in left field, his hat rested upside down. When Gordon rose from the dirt, he tried to scoop it up. It fell. He attempted to kick his lid to his hands. It fell again.
Gordon was left hatless. But so were his teammates.
In the fifth inning of Kansas City's 7-1 win over Cincinnati, Gordon slammed into the chain-link fence in left field with a back-handed grab, summoning the rest of the Royals to tip their hats.
"Alex never ceases to amaze in that regard," starter Jeremy Guthrie said. "That catch is not made by 29 other left fielders."
Gordon's right forearm collided with the fence first. His left one followed. Gordon's chest crashed into the fence, then his legs. His face brushed the fence but his knees took the brunt of the impact, he said.
The fence bounced Gordon -- and his limbs -- back toward the field, forcing him flat on his back. Wade Davis cracked a smile and clapped his hands. Guthrie shook his head. Franklin Morales continued to loosen his arm with a bungee cord strung to the fence.
"He just ran smack into the fence right there, slapped his face against the chain links right there," Davis said. "It didn't look like the play was going to be made. He just kind of went full force into the fence right there. Pretty cool to see."
Gordon's catch stole extra bases from the Reds' Todd Frazier and underscored another strong pitching performance from the Royals. Gordon's magnificent grab ended the fifth inning, kept the Reds off the scoreboard and preserved Guthrie's scoreless outing.
"I just said, 'Screw it,'" Gordon said. "Let's hit the fence and make the catch. That's my job to go out there and make plays for the pitcher."
"Those are plays you see Gordy make all the time," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He's fearless when it comes to the outfield. There's nothing that stands in his way. Walls, warning tracks, nothing. He'll go get that baseball."
Now, so is Gordon's 4-year-old son, Max.
According to Gordon, Max will run into walls around the house imitating his father, yelling, "Hey, here goes Alex Gordon," before booming into the barrier. Gordon said he's trying to stop his son's habit, but admitted that Max will probably do it when he sees his dad Thursday.
"He does it just like Daddy," Gordon said. "He just runs into the wall and falls down and lays there for about 10 seconds. He's got it down."
The win clinched the club's best record (26-14) through 40 games in franchise history and carried the Royals into a weekend series with St. Louis riding a three-game winning streak.
Through the first quarter of the season, Kansas City has dealt with four suspensions. Five Royals from the Opening Day roster have spent time on the disabled list. Three regular starters had ERAs north of 5.00. But the Royals remain atop the American League Central and off to the best start in club history.
"It's a really strong feeling that every time they walk through that door, they're going to win this baseball game today," Yost said.
Guthrie threw six scoreless innings and scattered four hits, becoming the third straight starter to toss at least six shutout frames. The Royals' offense provided enough support of Guthrie.
Gordon drove home the game's first run in the second with a sacrifice fly before the Royals tacked on three more in the fourth inning. Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain each laced singles to start the inning and Eric Hosmer drove in a run with an RBI fielder's choice. Kendrys Morales followed with a sacrifice fly to left, and Salvador Perez knocked a two-out, run-scoring single.
Kansas City added insurance runs with one in the fifth and two in the eighth.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
