<table> </table> Well, they are the world champions. So, yes, the Royals should have figured their first victory this season over the Boston Red Sox would be a squirmer right to the last pitch.</p><p>In the end, closer Joakim Soria had just enough Monday night to close out a 4-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium. The Mexicutioner retired Sean Casey on a line drive to right field for the final out with the bases loaded.</p><p>&#8220;When Casey hit it, the air went out of me,&#8221; catcher John Buck said. &#8220;That ball came out of (Soria&#8217;s) hand a little higher than it normally does. Casey hit it pretty good.&#8221;</p><p>The result was a sharp-hooking drive toward the right-field line, but right fielder Mark Teahen ran it down. When he did, Soria had his 32nd save, which rewarded Gil Meche for another stellar performance.</p><p>Boy, it wasn&#8217;t easy, though. Soria couldn&#8217;t remember a tougher time this season in closing out a victory.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a great team with a lot of great hitters,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I just tried to keep my mind in the game and get through it. But that was hard.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals had a 4-2 lead when Soria opened the ninth by yielding a single to Coco Crisp. Soria then caught a break &#8212; a deserved one, replays suggested &#8212; when he struck out J.D. Drew on a check-swing appeal on a 3-2 pitch.</p><p>Dustin Pedroia followed with a single that dropped in front of left fielder Esteban German. It was Pedroia&#8217;s third hit of the game and moved Crisp to second.</p><p>David Ortiz&#8217;s grounder to first produced the second out but moved both runners into scoring position.</p><p>An intentional walk to Kevin Youkilis loaded the bases and reduced the game to Soria vs. Jason Bay, the outfielder acquired last week from Pittsburgh in the trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.</p><p>For the moment.</p><p>Bay hit a soft grounder to the left side that turned into an RBI single when third baseman Alex Gordon and shortstop Tony Pe&#241;a collided.</p><p>&#8220;I should have charged it,&#8221; Gordon said, &#8220;but I played the hop and stayed back. Neither one of us talked. It was just in that spot where it was between us.&#8221;</p><p>Soria then jumped ahead of Casey 0-2 before Casey whacked a curveball to right field that Teahen ran down for the final out. Soria responded by raising his arms in exhausted exultation after a 31-pitch inning.</p><p>&#8220;From where I sat,&#8221; Boston manager Terry Francona said, &#8220;it looked like there was enough space when it left his bat that ball might fall.&#8221;</p><p>The Red Sox won all four games when the teams met May 19-22 in Boston. Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter in the opener, and that sweep started the Royals on a 12-game skid.</p><p>So this was a bit of payback.</p><p>Meche, 10-9, pushed his extended roll into a fourth month by limiting the Red Sox to two runs and four hits in six innings. It was his fourth straight &#8220;quality start&#8221; and his 14th in 24 outings.</p><p>&#8220;Meche settled in pretty well,&#8221; Boston catcher Jason Varitek said. &#8220;He has pitched well against us over the course of time; we weren&#8217;t able to really get a whole lot going.&#8221;</p><p>The hot, muggy conditions took a toll, though.</p><p>Meche had nine strikeouts and a season-high five walks, which pushed his pitch count to 109 pitches before he handed a two-run lead to reliever Ramon Ramirez in the seventh inning.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, you don&#8217;t want to walk people,&#8221; Meche said. &#8220;Not five against a team like that. But they didn&#8217;t capitalize on it after the first inning. Other than that, I stayed out of trouble.&#8221;