<table> </table> Call it a coincidence, but maybe all it took was the attention of a few women Thursday night to snap the Royals out of their funk.</p><p>Gil Meche pitched seven shutout innings as the Royals posted a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Girls Night Out at Kauffman Stadium.</p><p>That helps take the sting out of those three losses to Detroit by a combined 33-6 margin.</p><p>&#8220;We had Gil out there with his hair,&#8221; third baseman Alex Gordon noted. &#8220;The ladies love that. I think he had a lot of extra energy today.&#8221;</p><p>Meche won for the fifth time in his last six decisions and provided a beleaguered rotation with a much-needed boost. He has the unit&#8217;s only two &#8220;quality starts&#8221; since the All-Star break.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s back to where he needs to be,&#8221; catcher John Buck said. &#8220;He stuck to his plan and continued to be aggressive, not just with his fastball but with everything. Obviously, it worked for him.&#8221;</p><p>Oh, it got a little shaky at the end.</p><p>The Royals carried a 4-0 lead into the eighth before Ron Mahay gave up his first run in 10 games. All-Star closer Joakim Soria then opened the ninth by allowing successive hits, which led to another run, before closing the door for his 27th save in 29 opportunities.</p><p>But the Royals held on even as a steady drizzle began falling.</p><p>Soria closed the game with his trademark slow-hammer curve that struck out Eric Hinske. Good night, ladies.</p><p>Meche, 8-9, survived a 31-pitch first inning by settling into groove and faced just one hitter over the minimum from the third through seventh innings.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sitting on the bench after three innings,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and I&#8217;ve thrown 60-some pitches, and said, &#8216;Hopefully those are my bad innings, and I can cruise for a little bit and try to get at least through six innings.&#8217;</p><p>&#8220;I just got into a rhythm. I was throwing good pitches down in the zone, mixing it up in and out. They kept swinging at the first pitch, which helped.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals backed him with some fine defense in the seventh. Shortstop Mike Aviles ran down a Cliff Floyd hopper up the middle for the first out before David DeJesus made a web-gem diving catch on Dioner Navarro&#8217;s slicing drive for the second out.</p><p>Meche allowed just five hits, all singles, in seven innings before handing over a four-run lead. He struck out four and walked one in a 100-pitch performance that lowered his ERA to 4.31.</p><p>Tampa Bay starter Matt Garza, 8-6, typically pitches well against the Royals and comes away with little to show for it. Not so much this time. He lasted just five innings before exiting after allowing four runs and eight hits.</p><p>The loss trimmed the Rays&#8217; lead atop the American League East Division to .001 over second-place Boston.</p><p>The Royals finished with 10 hits, including two each by DeJesus, Alex Gordon and Ross Gload. Mark Grudzielanek delivered a sacrifice fly in the first inning for the game&#8217;s first run. Buck, sporting a newly shaved head, keyed a three-run fourth with a two-run double.</p><p>Buck allowed Meche to shave his head after batting practice on the condition that Meche pitch well.</p><p>&#8220;At first,&#8221; Buck said, &#8220;we made it into an old-man cut, like my dad. Just shave the top and leave the sides to see what it looked like when I&#8217;m older.</p><p>&#8220;I went to the pitchers&#8217; meeting with it to see if anyone could hold a straight face. I had to finish (the meeting) with a hat on.&#8221;</p><p>Meche shaved the rest of Buck&#8217;s head before the game started.</p><p>&#8220;I told him after the game that his head is going to stay like that for a while,&#8221; Meche said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to keep shaving it every fifth day. I think he looks pretty good with it, to be honest.&#8221;</p><p>For anyone concerned, no, Meche has no plans to shave his head. He has no plans to change anything now that he&#8217;s on a roll: 7-6 with a 3.31 ERA in his last 17 starts after going 1-3 with an 8.00 ERA in his first five starts.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t say I wanted to shave my head,&#8221; Meche said. &#8220;He did. That&#8217;s why he&#8217;s bald, and I&#8217;m not.&#8221;</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> @ Go to <strong>KansasCity.com</strong> for a photo gallery from Thursday&#8217;s game and Bob Dutton&#8217;s vlogs.</p><p></div>