Royals' Jarrod Dyson and Rays' Logan Forsythe Hit Inside-the-Park HRs

The Kansas City Royals suffered a setback Wednesday night when All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon dropped to the ground in agony after attempting to run down a deep shot at the left field wall.

In the top of the fourth, Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe smacked a ball that dropped on the warning track in front of the unpadded, electronic scoreboard in the partition, but it appeared Gordon pulled up with a leg injury before touching the wall.

The misfortune allowed Forsythe to leg out an inside-the-park home run, and Gordon was eventually carted off the field for examination.

It's an unfortunate turn of events for a Royals team with postseason aspirations, but a glimmer of ironic justice did follow in the aftermath of Gordon's injury.

The Royals subbed in low-flying fighter jet Jarrod Dyson to take over for Gordon in left field, and the Royals reserve immediately made his presence known.

Dyson's first contribution of the night was throwing out Brandon Guyer at home for a run-saving double play in the top of the fourth.

The play shot life back into an atypically somber Kauffman Stadium, and two innings later, Dyson messed around and hit his own inside-the-parker.

Chipping a ball into the left field corner, Dyson engaged warp drive and feasted on a number of fielding miscues. He slid into home with time to kill, so he took a moment to rest and think about life's mysteries at home plate.

MLB

Dyson's inside-the-parker scored two and helped the Royals to a 9-7 win, and he received a celebratory water-cup spritzing from catcher Salvador Perez for his efforts.

After the game, Dyson said he was just trying to make the most of the opportunities, per the Kansas City Star's Chris Bumbaca.

"Every time I'm out there, I try to do a job and provide some type of spark for the team," Dyson said. "I was able to go out there and do it right away."

So we're clear, the right way is coming in and avenging the man you replaced and winning the game. The Right Way is the best way.

Dan is on Twitter. Inside-the-park homers are like regular homers but with NOS.