Pirate Galaxy » with his fourth hundred in his last

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Brad Miller took a punch to the gut on Monday when told he was losing his starting shortstop role and being moved primarily to first base.On Thursday, he delivered the knockout blow in a victory.Miller hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2.I just go out there and play, Miller said. Its all I can really do. Try and get after it. I think Ive shown them all year how valuable I am, but at the end of the day, I have to go out and play. Thats all that matters.Tampa Bay acquired Matt Duffy on Monday in a four-player deal that sent left-hander Matt Moore to San Francisco. Duffy will take over at short when he returns next week from a strained left Achilles tendon.Miller connected on his 19th homer off Joakim Soria (4-5), who gave up three of the Rays overall four hits during his one inning.Were lucky to have him, and it doesnt matter where plays, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. We know his bat plays.Kanas City dropped to 40-2 when ahead after seven innings.In my view, it was a good pitch . it was down in the zone, Soria said. He hit it out, so it wasnt a good pitch.Brad Boxberger (1-0) worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth before Alex Colome got his 26th save despite giving up two hits during the ninth. Drew Smyly allowed two runs, five hits, one walk and struck out 10 in seven innings.Ian Kennedy gave up one hit, walked four and had nine strikeouts in six-plus innings for the Royals. Alex Gordon hit his eighth home.Tampa Bay won the final two games to split the four-game series. The Rays are 8-25 against Kansas City since the start of the 2012 season.Gordon had not homered or driven in a run in his previous 72 at-bats against left-handers this season before hitting a two-run drive off Smyly that put Kansas City ahead 2-0 in the fourth.Smyly has given up 23 homers, including six to left-handed hitters. He didnt allow a homer to a lefty last season.Kennedy entered tied with teammate Chris Young and Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey with a major league-high 26 homers allowed but hasnt given up a long ball in three consecutive starts.TRAINERS ROOMRays: RHP Chase Whitley (Tommy John surgery) will make his fourth rehab start Friday night with Double-A Montgomery.MLB SANCTIONSRoyals DH Kendrys Morales received a one-game suspension and a fine for his actions following a ninth inning ejection, which included returning to the field, in Tuesday nights game. Morales appealed the ruling and started.FUTURE IN BLUE?Major League Baseball will hold a one-day free umpiring clinic for all ages at Tropicana Field on Aug. 20. Baseball officials, including MLB umpire supervisor Charlie Reliford, will also be looking for scholarship candidates to attend a one-day pro mini-camp in December. Umpire Carlos Torres, who worked the Royals-Rays series, is a one-time camp participant that received an umpiring school scholarship.MOVING DAYTampa Bay claimed C Bobby Wilson off waivers from Texas and optioned C Curt Casali to Triple-A Durham.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Dillon Gee (3-5) will face recently acquired Toronto LHP Francisco Liriano, who went 6-11 with Pittsburgh.Rays: Rookie LHP Blake Snell (3-4) will go against Minnesota RHP Ervin Santana (4-9) in the opener of a three-game series Friday between the ALs two worst teams.Zach Allen Jersey . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Hakeem Butler Jersey . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/Youth-Kurt-Warner-Cardinals-Jersey/ . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Pat Tillman Jersey . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. Zach Allen Youth Jersey . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end.Perhaps the bookies have been too busy ogling Australias stunning meltdowns in Perth and Hobart, for its fair to say that Englands improbably strong showing in the first Test at Rajkot hasnt shifted many preconceptions about the eventual outcome of their series against India.The 5-0 whitewash may now be out of the question, but India remain 1/5 favourites with Bet365 to seal the series victory. England, at 17/2 in what is now a four-match shootout (they were 11/1 this time last week) remain a tempting option given the success of both their batsmen and spin bowlers in the series opener.On that note, the market for Man of the Match at Visakhapatnam throws up some interesting odds. Adil Rashid swiped the spoils at Rajkot with his haul of seven wickets, and he is 12/1 to repeat that feat - not a bad shout if he can bounce to the crease with the same verve that he displayed in the series opener.And what about Alastair Cook? He was pretty horribly out of form in the early weeks of the tour, inclluding in both Tests against Bangladesh, but bounced back with his fourth hundred in his last five Tests in India - a remarkable record by any standards, and as Cook has proven in the past, once he rediscovers his taste for runs, theres often no stopping him.dddddddddddd He is 3/1 to be Englands top run-scorer - not much value there - but a tastier 11/1 to inherit Rashids man-of-the-match mantle.The market for Indias leading bowler is much the same as that for the series win. Despite being largely outbowled by their English counterparts at Rajkot, the bookies dont doubt that Indias spinners, R Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja, will bounce back on what is expected to be a spicier surface in the second Test. They are 6/4 and 5/2 respectively to be Indias leading wicket-taker. For a bit of value, keep an eye on Umesh Yadav at 6/1. He was the pick of their seamers at Rajkot. ' ' '