"It's 24 straight saves and counting now for Royals closer Joakim Soria after Saturday's 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

Soria worked around a leadoff single by Chone Figgins in the ninth inning in protecting a victory for Bruce Chen, who worked seven dazzling innings.

Soria's 24 straight saves match a club record established by Jeff Montgomery in 1993.

"That's really important to me," Soria said, "but you have to look at it as just a number, too. You have to keep going. I want to put up a really big mark."

It was also Soria's 31st save of the season, which matches Tampa Bay's Rafael Soria for tops in the American League.

The game, though, belonged to Chen, who rolled through the Mariners with velvet finesse. Blake Wood pitched around a two-out single in the eighth inning by retiring Ichiro Suzuki on a squibber in front of the plate.

That concluded a zero-for-four night for Suzuki, which snapped an 18-game hitting streak against the Royals in which he batted .408 by going 31 for 76."