Myers stays hot with pair of blasts

It would be pretty easy to look at Wil Myers' statistics and wonder if anything's wrong. Talk to the slugger and he'll tell you the answer -- nothing.

The Rays top prospect homered twice Tuesday night and helped Triple-A Durham rally for a 9-8 triumph over visiting Buffalo.

Myers slugged a two-run shot in the seventh inning that hit off the fourth balcony in left-center field, a shot described as "one of the longest hit at Durham Bulls Athletic Park." He connected for another two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Bulls into an 8-8 tie.

"It was, I think, the seventh pitch of the at-bat," Myers said of his game-tying blast. "I had seen some good fastballs over the plate, a little up, just fouled them off and was able to just get one a little more down."

Batting .298 after a 2-for-4 performance on May 2, Myers went 10-for-62 over his next 18 games as his average dipped to .244. Since then, he's gone deep five times, driven in 15 runs and is riding a six-game hitting streak. Despite the slump, the 22-year-old outfielder never felt like anything was wrong, except, perhaps, his luck.

"I was kinda slumping a little bit in the beginning of the year," Myers said. "It was just one of those things where I was having bad luck, I didn't really feel bad at the plate. I was feeling good at the plate, I wasn't getting fooled that much. I lined out a few times, had some bloops not fall in for me.

"Right now, I feel good at the plate, I'm seeing the ball well and taking advantage of pitches early in the count."

Overall, the North Carolina native is batting .266 with nine homers and ranks second in the International League with 40 RBIs.

Typically, a slumping player tries to identify what's not working at the plate. In Myers' case, there were no adjustments to be made, creating a slightly more troublesome experience.

"It was a little frustrating for me, not feeling bad at the plate, just not getting the results," he said. "It was just something that I knew was going to come. I wasn't worried too much."

After Myers tied the game with his homer off reliever Buddy Carlyle, Shelley Duncan singled with one out. Pinch-runner Jason Bourgeois stole second and scored the winning run when Rays No. 14 prospect Tim Beckham singled off the left-field wall.

"It was awesome. The whole ninth inning was great for our team," said Myers, MLB.com's No. 4 overall prospect. "It was just a good overall team win."

Vince Belnome went 3-for-3 with four runs scored and Leslie Anderson had two RBIs for the Bulls, who remain tied for first place in the IL South Division.

Moises Sierra hit a two-run homer for the Bisons.