Alex Gordon homered and the Royals batted around in the third inning to score three. Then Joakim Soria was put to the test, loading the bases and giving up a run, but the Royals hold off the Red Sox for a 4-3 win.
Gil Meche has now won his fourth straight decision after bouncing back from a two run first inning, by striking out nine over six innings to move to 10-9 on the year. Meche got in trouble in the first walking JD Drew and giving up a double to Dustin Pedroia, but after that settled down.
Meanwhile Alex Gordon hit his 13th homer in the second and then the Royals used three singles, two walks, a wild pitch and hit batter to score three runs off Clay Bucholz.
It stayed that way into the ninth, when the Red Sox rallied in the ninth. With second and third and two outs, Soria elected to intentionally walk Kevin Youkilis, a clutch hitter for the Red Sox, so he could take his chance with Jason Bay. Bay delivered a single to cut the lead to one, but Soria got Sean Casey to fly to right to preserve the win for Meche and pick up his 32nd save.
Gil Meche allowed two runs in the first and walked five over his six innings, but struck out nine. Alex Gordon homered in the second and the Royals batted around in the third for three runs. Joakim Soria loaded the bases and allowed a run in the ninth, but got the save.
