"Here's more proof, if any were needed, that Joakim Soria makes a difference when the Royals find themselves looking to protect slender leads in the late innings.

Soria closed out a 4-3 victory Wednesday night over the New York Yankees _ yes, barely, by stranding runners at second and third in a scoreless ninth. But really, all that matters is he closed it out, right?

Contrast that with Tuesday night: Kyle Farnsworth blew a one-run lead to the Yankees in the ninth inning when Soria was unavailable while recovering from Sunday's career-high 46-pitch outing against the Twins.

"Soria just gives you confidence," catcher John Buck said. "You look at his face and into his eyes _ like I did when I went out and talked to him _ and you see he's under control.

"Even though a couple of things didn't go right, you just get the sense that we're going to be OK. As bad as it looked, you felt we're going to be OK. That's why he is what he is. It's pretty impressive how even-keel and unfazed by things he is."

Let's be fair, though.

These weren't really the Yankees by game's end. Manager Joe Girardi managed the last few innings as if it were a spring training game _ or a late September game when your club is already assured of its place in postseason.

It almost seemed as if Girardi was summoning players from some nearby minor-league field to complete the game.

But also to be fair, the Royals aren't in a position to turn down any victories. Certainly not in the South Bronx, where they have known little but heartbreak _ see Tuesday night _ for more than a generation.

The Royals have won just five times in their last 30 games in New York. This was also their first victory in three tries at the new Yankee Stadium.

So, sure, when things started to slip away Wednesday with two outs in the ninth _ a single and a throwing error _ it wasn't hard to imagine some new disaster.

"That gets scary," left fielder Mitch Maier admitted. "All it takes is a little duck snort or a seeing-eye ground ball."

Soria responded by retiring Ramiro Peña on a routine fly to center.

"I didn't try to make it exciting," Soria said, "but I've been doing that for the last month. I don't remember the last time I went one-two-three. But thank god that things went well, and we won the game.""