There has been a lot of talk &#8212; <em>lot</em> of talk the last couple of years &#8212; about what to do with Royals pitcher Joakim Soria. It&#8217;s understandable. Here was a gift that seemed to fall out of the sky, a right-handed pitcher with three devastating pitches, preposterous control and an unnatural calmness. It is still a quirky story; teams will spend hundreds of millions of dollars and countless hours looking for a pitcher like Soria, and then the Royals find one in Mexico when they least expected it.</p><p>Ever since they found Soria, the argument has raged: starter or closer? There are arguments to be made both ways. A starter is significantly more valuable than a closer; a starter pitches three or four times as many innings and has a larger effect on a season. So, that side of the argument went, if Soria could excel as a starter and with his stuff and composure, you would have to like his chances he would be even more important for the Royals.</p><p>This was the decision the Yankees made with Joba Chamberlain, who was their starter on Sunday. Chamberlain threw 100 mph as a reliever, and there&#8217;s little doubt he would have been devastating there. The Yankees made him into a starter.</p><p>The other side of the argument was made clearly on a rainy Sunday afternoon at the new K. It was a sloppy and muddy game between the Royals and the Yankees. The Royals scored their first run when a ground ball &#8212; and this is the first time I&#8217;ve ever seen this &#8212; dribbled through the legs of <em>two</em> different players. Alberto Callapso&#8217;s grounder rolled through Yankee first baseman Nick Swisher&#8217;s legs, then rolled through second baseman Robinson Cano&#8217;s legs. Royals outfielder David DeJesus scored. So the Royals scored two of their first three runs against the Yankees on a dropped fly ball and a grounder that went through the wickets twice.</p><p>That was OK: The Yankees scored the tying run in the seventh when Cano&#8217;s ground ball was missed by Royals first baseman Mike Jacobs. The Yankees scored the go-ahead run on a double-play grounder. It was that sort of day.</p><p>But in the eighth inning, the Royals rather unexpectedly rallied. With two outs, Billy Butler drew a walk. Third-string catcher Brayan Pe&#241;a, in the game as a designated hitter, pounded a double. Callaspo blooped a single. John Buck ripped a double down the left-field line. The Royals scored three runs more than they scored the first two games of the Yankees series and took a 6-4 lead.</p><p>And Soria trotted in from the bullpen in the ninth. &#8220;Welcome to the Jungle&#8221; blared over the enhanced Royals sound system. Images of fire flared up on video screens all over the stadium.</p><p>And here&#8217;s the argument: The game was <em>over</em>.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a big deal,&#8221; Buck says. &#8220;To have that kind of confidence in the ninth inning is a big deal.&#8221;</p><p>Personally, I have gone back and forth about Soria as a starter and as a reliever. I can see both sides of the argument. But in a moment like this, when the Royals are playing the New York Yankees, and the game goes back and forth, and the Royals somehow manage to take the lead in the late innings, there is this overwhelming sense of power when Soria comes into the game. There simply isn&#8217;t anyone in the game who is better at finishing off a team. Last year, Soria had more 1-2-3 innings (36) than any other closer in baseball. He had a 1.60 ERA. He saved 42 games in 45 attempts.</p><p>First Yankees batter, Hideki Matsui: Soria rushed a fastball over for a strike, moved Matsui off the plate with another fastball, got Matsui to foul off a pitch and then froze him with a knee-high, 91-mph fastball over the outside corner. Strike three. Perfection.