ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals are going through the growing pains of a promising young team.

Jeff Niemann won his sixth consecutive decision, Ben Zobrist had a two-run triple and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a four-game sweep with a 4-1 victory over the Royals yesterday.

“It’s miserable when you lose,” Kansas City Manager Ned Yost said. “But you have to remind yourself every day where you’re headed, knowing that is all part of the process. There’s no way to make it quicker. You have to go through it.”

Kansas City, which has the youngest 25-man roster in the majors, has lost six of seven. The Royals had 11 hits but went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.

“This is the most painful part,” Yost said. “This is where it hurts. We start to really show some improvement, but you can’t get over the hump in winning games. You’re really close. The hardest part is maintaining your patience and maintaining your sense of reality, exactly what you’re trying to accomplish and how you’re going to get there.”

Niemann (7-4) allowed one run and nine hits over 61/3 innings. The right-hander is 6-0 in nine starts since returning from a strained lower back.

The Rays’ first four-game home sweep since July 28-31, 2005 — also against Kansas City — included an 8-7 win Wednesday night in which Tampa Bay scored five times in the ninth.

Kansas City rookie left-hander Danny Duffy (3-6) gave up three runs and five hits over seven innings.

“I feel like I gave it my all,” Duffy said. “I had a solid outing, but it wasn’t enough.”

After Joel Peralta threw 12/3 scoreless innings for Tampa Bay, Kyle Farnsworth pitched the ninth for his 21st save.

Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead when Zobrist drove in two runs on a third-inning triple. Desmond Jennings tripled and scored to make it 3-1 on Evan Longoria’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly.

Sean Rodriguez extended the advantage to 4-1 on an eighth-inning RBI single.

The Royals had runners on second and third with no outs in the first but scored just one run on Eric Hosmer’s grounder. Kansas City was hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position through two innings.

Hosmer was retired on a grounder with two on and two outs in the fifth. Niemann struck out Alex Gordon with two outs and the bases loaded one inning later.

“You see all the young talent here,” Kansas City right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. “Now it’s learning how to play in the big leagues. Every single person goes through it.”

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The Kansas City Royals signed Alex Gordon to a one-year contract on Friday, avoiding arbitration.

Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) – The Kansas City Royals signed Alex Gordon to a one-year contract on Friday, avoiding arbitration.

The 26-year-old will be paid $1.4 million in 2011 plus an additional $100,000 in potential performance bonuses.

Gordon, originally a third baseman, switched to the outfield and finished the 2010 season as the club’s regular right-fielder. He struggled to a .215 average with eight homers and 20 RBI in 74 games, thanks to a broken right thumb suffered in spring training.

A second-overall pick of the Royals in the 2005 amateur draft, the Nebraska native has hit .244 with 45 homers, 87 doubles and 161 RBI in 408 games over four major-league seasons.

© 2011 The Sports Network