They had gathered in deep left-center field, the remnants of a defending world champion, the remaining core of a team beset by injuries.
Eric Hosmer had traversed 270 feet from his position at first base. Paulo Orlando had jogged over from right field. Lorenzo Cain stood on the edge of the pack, his hat removed, staring at the latest Royal to lay in pain on the Kauffman Stadium turf.
“We wanted to go see what happened,” second baseman Whit Merrifield said after the game.
It was the top of the fifth on Tuesday night. The Royals were cruising to a 10-5 blowout over the Tampa Bay Rays. A baseball team-turned-freight train was rolling to a fifth straight win and a sixth straight series victory.
And yet, the blistering performance was secondary. Before the Royals lay rookie outfielder Brett Eibner, writhing on the ground in discomfort after coming up lame on a play near the wall. As head trainer Nick Kenney crouched down and felt the area around Eibner’s left ankle, a green cart emerged from the right field bullpen and sped across the field.
“You don’t know what’s going on,” Hosmer said. “So as a team, you just go out and see what’s going on.”
Four days earlier, Eibner, 27, had made his major-league debut after six years and 541 games in the minor leagues. He had marked the night with a double in a victory over the Chicago White Sox. One night later, he had notched a bases-loaded, walk-off single in an epic seven-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth. On Tuesday, he was the latest Royal to appear on the injury report. The play occurred in the top of the fifth. Eibner had raced back toward left-center field on a deep drive off the wall, retrieving the baseball before pulling up lame on a non-contact injury. He flipped the baseball to Cain as he hopped onto his right foot and fell to the grass. He was carted off after spending close to three minutes on the ground.
Eibner was initially diagnosed with a “left lateral ankle sprain,” a Royals official said. He will undergo further testing Wednesday. Even if the Royals dodge another serious injury, the moment offered another scare in an otherwise dominating victory.
Cain finished 2 for 4, drilling a two-run homer in the first inning. Hosmer racked up three hits and raised his season average to .330. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales, mired in a season-long slump, crushed a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, turning the night into a bona-fide rout.
The Royals offense battered Tampa Bay Rays starter Drew Smyly for eight runs in four innings, including five in a long rally in the fourth.
The output was enough for Royals right-hander Dillon Gee, who allowed four runs in five innings in his fourth start of the season.
Gee needed 102 pitches to navigate 15 outs, and in the sixth inning, Royals manager Ned Yost summoned right-hander Chris Young, who surrendered no runs in three innings while making his second appearance since returning from the disabled list.
The Royals, 29-22, remained in first place for another day, stretching their lead to two full games over Chicago and Cleveland. They can complete a perfect 6-0 homestand with a victory against the Rays on Wednesday night.
And yet, for another night, the focus was on the health status of another Royals player, this one a rookie who was only needed after injuries to Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas earlier this month.
In less than two weeks, Kansas City has lost Gordon for a month with a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist. It has lost Moustakas for the season to a torn ACL. For the next seven days or so, the Royals must make due with Salvador Perez on the bench with a bruised quadriceps muscle.
Enter Eibner, who joined the fray last week after a long, injury-prone journey through the minor leagues. For three days, his big-league debut felt like a dream, three days of comebacks and hits against the Chicago White Sox. On Tuesday, he had another hit, raising his average to .462 in four games. Now his future status is less than certain. For another night, the Royals notched another victory. For another day, they had to weather another injury.

Results
Houston     8     Arizona     5
Seattle     16     San Diego     4
Texas     7     Cleveland     3
Boston     6     Baltimore     2
Washington     5     Philadelphia     1
Toronto     4     NY Yankees     1
Chicago White Sox 6     NY Mets     4
Miami     3     Pittsburgh     1
San Francisco     4     Atlanta     0
LA Dodgers     5     Chicago Cubs     0
St. Louis     10     Milwaukee     3
Kansas City     10     Tampa Bay     5
Colorado     17     Cincinnati     4
LA Angels     11     Detroit     9
Oakland     7     Minnesota     4