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ONE RUN ENOUGH FOR RAYS

Wil Myers' infield single against the team that dealt him leads to a win.
 
Published April 9, 2014|Updated April 9, 2014

Wil Myers didn't hit the ball into the fountains. Actually he didn't even hit it out of the infield. But his single on a slow roller toward third to open the ninth inning led to the only run as the Rays beat the Royals 1-0 Tuesday.

Myers, hitless in his first 11 at-bats against the team that traded him, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Greg Holland and scored on a two-out single by James Loney.

Circumstances and conditions aligned to tilt Tuesday's game away from offense, the combination of cold weather - 59 degrees at first pitch and falling from there - and two hard-throwing starters in Royals rookie Yordano Ventura, who was clocked at a majors-high 102.8 mph last season and averaged 97.5 with his fastball, and the Rays' Chris Archer, who topped all American League pitchers with 20 or more starts averaging 95 mph.

Ventura, who got into triple digits twice, did his part over six innings, allowing only two hits while striking out six.

Archer was equally effective through seven innings, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out four.

The Rays had a good chance in the eighth when they got two on with one out, but ex-mate Wade Davis, now the Royals' setup man, came up big, striking out Yunel Escobar and David DeJesus.

The Royals made a bid in their eighth, loading the bases with one out on two singles off Jake McGee and a walk by lefty Alex Gordon off righty Joel Peralta, whom Joe Maddon brought in going against traditional matchups (though knowing Gordon was 3-for-5 vs. McGee.) But Peralta came back to strike out Danny Valencia looking. Grant Balfour handled the ninth for the Rays after allowing a leadoff single.