SURPRISE, ARIZ.
The baseball landed atop the grassy berm in dead center field, a foot or two from a row of purple flower bushes, perhaps 440 feet from home plate.
As the ball tore through the thin Arizona air and bounded up against a batter’s-eye wall in deep center field, well beyond the outfield fence, Alex Gordon rounded first base and broke into a easy trot. The solo homer broke a sixth-inning deadlock in the Royals’ 7-5 victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon. It also punctuated a breakout day for Gordon, who finished 4 for 4 with two RBIs.