"Somewhere, at some point, Joakim Soria has somehow morphed into a nightmarish combination of Ambiorix Burgos, Andrew Sisco, Mike MacDougal, Ricky Bottalico and every other failed Royals closer of the last generation.

Soria blew another lead Sunday afternoon by surrendering two runs in the ninth inning in a 7-6 loss to Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. That makes a career-high four blown saves, and his ERA now stands at an almost-incomprehensible 5.57.

"Stuff like this happens," Soria said, "but it's been happening for two months. It's been hard. This is the hardest part of my career right now. I need to figure out what's going on."

Manager Ned Yost was adamant afterward that Soria, despite his struggles, will remain as the club's closer.

"Jack is our best option," Yost insisted. "Trust me, I have been through this five or six times (as a manager). The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is to start messing around with the bullpen."

Sunday was a mess, too.

First, Soria served up a leadoff homer to Nelson Cruz before the game ended on a controversial play at the plate when Mike Napoli scored all the way from first base on Elvis Andrus' two-out single to right.

Napoli slid under the tag by catcher Brayan Peña after Peña took a step back once he took the throw from first baseman Eric Hosmer. The Royals argued briefly, but replays indicated umpire Mike Estabrook got the call right.

"I thought I had home plate blocked," Peña said, "but I guess not. He slid in there. I feel like…I can't say the word — but that's the way I feel right now."

It was a bitter end, but the bigger issue is Soria's mounting ineffectiveness. He blew one-run leads twice on the just-completed road trip, which turned a possible 3-3 split on a swing through Baltimore and Texas into a 1-5 disaster.

On Sunday, Soria inherited a one-run lead after the Royals broke a tie in the top of the ninth. He immediately fell behind 3-0 to the first hitter, Nelson Cruz, before throwing a strike.

Cruz then sent a 368-foot drive over the left-field wall for a game-tying homer.

"The homer was on a slider down and in," Soria said. "He's a good hitter, and he hit the ball well. It was not in the spot that I wanted, but it was not a bad pitch. It was down and in."

Napoli followed with a line single to left, but Soria, 3-2, struck out the next two hitters before Andrus sent a flare into right field. Mitch Maier reached it and threw to Hosmer, whose relay appeared to get to Peña in time for the out."