All turned around by a Jason Kipnis fly to deep left, Alex Gordon hit his head on the fence at Kauffman Stadium and left Wednesday’s Indians-Royals game with a possible concussion and hip contusion.
Gordon’s head snapped back as he hit the wall, which is actually a chain-link fence in Kansas City. Had it simply been a padded wall all of the way around, perhaps the blow would have been lessened.
While Gordon was down, Kipnis ran all of the way around the bases for a three-run inside-the-park homer. He didn’t realize Gordon was hurt until after celebrating at the plate.
The injury comes at a bad time for a Royals team that just jettisoned Jeff Francouer and Triple-A Omaha’s Xavier Nady. The Royals can go to a David Lough-Jarrod Dyson-Lorenzo Cain outfield while Gordon is out, but they have little depth beyond that. 30-year-old career minor leaguer Anthony Seratelli might be their best choice for a callup. The Royals also have veteran Willy Taveras and ex-Tiger Quintin Berry in Triple-A, but both have struggled.