KANSAS CITY -- After playing in 67 games and parts of six seasons in the Major Leagues, mostly as a designated pinch-runner, Royals outfielder Terrance Gore got his first start in Wednesday night's 6-5 loss to the Mariners.

And it didn’t take long for Gore to put his imprints on a game the Royals eventually lost on a ninth-inning homer by Mitch Haniger.

In the third inning, Gore, in left field, went racing to his right on a liner hit by Edwin Encarnacion. Gore extended fully and made a diving catch with the bases loaded, holding the Mariners to one run on the play on a sacrifice fly. Statcast measured it as a four-star catch with a 40 percent catch probability.

Then in the sixth, Gore topped that. Gore raced to his left and made a diving catch to rob Dee Gordon, a five-star catch with a 10 percent catch probability.

Which was his favorite catch?

"The one in left-center, for sure,” Gore said. “I think Dee Gordon hit it. That was the best one."

Gore also added an infield hit and a stolen base in the second, tripled in a run in the seventh, and doubled in the ninth. 

It certainly was Gore’s breakout game, something his manager and teammates noticed.

“It was just a lights-out game for Terrance,” skipper Ned Yost said.

Added Whit Merrifield, “I had a conversation with him after the game. That kid, his whole life, everyone’s told him he can’t do anything but run. All he can do is pinch-run. He’s going to be a pinch-runner his whole life. And he got a chance tonight [and said heck with] you guys, I’m going to show you guys I can play. I was so proud of him tonight. He held his own and [then] some. He was incredible tonight. ...”

Gore himself said he didn’t believe he had anything to prove.

"Like I told you before, it's the same game I've been playing all my whole life,” Gore said, “so you just need a couple opportunities."

Gore, perhaps the fastest player on the team that also has Adalberto Mondesi and Billy Hamilton, found out he might start after Tuesday night’s game.

“I had a gallon of milk in my hand and I was leaving the clubhouse,” Gore said, “and [Yost] said, ‘Hey, Terrance, I might start you in left tomorrow.’

“I just sat the milk down and said, ‘Oh, OK.’ Then, I thought I better go home and get a good night’s sleep.”

Yost had decided last weekend that he needed to give 35-year-old Alex Gordon a day off on the homestand. And with a tough left-hander on the mound in Mariners starter Yusei Kikuchi and a day game on Thursday, Yost decided Wednesday was a good time to get Gore that first MLB start in place of Gordon.

But first, Yost had to playfully engage with a reporter who he thought was challenging the decision.

“Gore has been working his tail off,” Yost said. “He’s on our team. We got to play him. There are times when I’ll pinch-run with him and I’ll have to put him in the outfield. I got to play him.

“I’m not going to sit him on an island out by himself and send him little pigeons with notes tied on their legs. He has worked hard enough to earn a start. He’s worked all three outfield positions, Alex Gordon-type work.

“And the guy is the only guy on the team hitting 1.000. Why wouldn’t I play him?”

Gore was 1-for-1 entering Wednesday night’s game after a pinch-hit single on Monday. The MLB record for most games played before getting a first start is held by Oakland's Allan Lewis in 1970 with 97 games. Gore is second.