All good things must come to an end, it seems, even for Joakim Soria. The Mexicutioner coughed up a two-run lead in the ninth inning Sunday afternoon before an error in the 12th by third baseman Wilson Betemit brought the Royals’ season to a thudding conclusion in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium.

Soria had not blown a save in 36 previous opportunities dating to May 6 at Texas. He had not allowed a run in 24 previous appearances dating to July 28. Oh, well. “Sometimes, it’s going to happen,” he said. “Nobody is perfect. It’s disappointing, but you can’t just see the bad things. I care (about blowing the save), obviously. But I’ve had a great year, and this won’t affect the way I look at the year.”Tampa Bay scored the winning run after Rocco Baldelli lined a one-out pinch single in the 12th inning against Dusty Hughes.$home$

Baldelli stole second on a swinging third strike by Reid Brignac, which prompted a pitching change to Greg Holland to get a righty-righty matchup against Kelly Shoppach.

The strategy should have work when Holland got Shoppach to hit a routine grounder to third, but the ball scooted between Betemit’s legs for a run-scoring error.

“I have to make that play,” Betemit said. “The ball didn’t come up, and if I stay down a little better…but I’ve got to make that play.”

Say this: The Royals didn’t go quietly in their 12th against Tampa Bay closer Rafael Soriano. They put runners on second and third when Gregor Blanco followed a two-out walk to Mitch Maier with a pinch double.

It wasn’t to be.

Soriano recorded his league-leading 45th save by striking out Mike Aviles, who threw his bat in frustration, which seemed a fitting conclusion to a 67-95 season. The Rays stormed the field in a celebration that soon shifted to the traditional clubhouse champagne party.

“That game, at the end, kind of typified the way our year has gone,” manager Ned Yost said. “We make mistakes, but this team never quits. They keep battling and find ways to make it interesting.”

Jeff Niemann, 12-8, got the victory after striking out the side in his only inning. It was his first relief appearance of the season. Hughes, 1-3, was the loser.

Tampa Bay, by winning, finished as the American League East Division’s outright champion. The Rays clinched the top seed in the AL postseason earlier in the day when the New York Yankees lost in Boston.

The Rays will play Texas in the best-of-five AL Division Series, which begins Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Yankees, as the wild-card entry, will open at Minnesota in the other series.

The Royals led 2-0 when Carl Crawford opened the ninth inning against Soria with a single through the right side of the infield. Soria struck out Dan Johnson before Matt Joyce grounded a single up the middle. Carlos Peña fell into an 0-2 hole before slicing an outside cutter into the left-field corner for a two-run double that ended Soria’s many streaks.

“Soria is just unreal,” Peña said. “He’s one of the best in the game. So you know you have to really bear down to get him. So to be able to get that last hit, obviously, I’m just thrilled.”

It happens.

“It was a good pitch,” Soria said. “He just went the other way with it, and he doesn’t usually go the other way.”

Soria’s stumble snatched a victory away from Sean O’Sullivan, who carried a shutout into the seventh inning in a third straight strong start.

“Obviously, I would have liked to win that,” O’Sullivan said, “but I feel good about the last impression that I’ve left from these last three games. I worked on a lot of things this season, and I think I was able to see them show up in the games.”

O’Sullivan allowed just three runs and 11 hits over 18 innings in his final three starts, which followed a rough stretch of surrendering 22 runs and 30 hits over 16 2/3 innings in four previous starts.

“You could see him,” Yost said, “especially his last few starts, really start to make strides and start incorporating the mechanical things that are going to allow him to command the ball better.”

Alex Gordon’s two-run homer in the fourth inning, a 392-foot drive to right, provided the game’s only runs until the ninth inning. The Rays’ rally allowed Wade Davis to gain a no-decision after allowing two runs and three hits in seven innings.

The two-run ninth spiked Soria’s ERA from 1.53 to 1.78. He finished with a career-high 43 saves in 46 opportunities.

“Jack had such a great year, just a phenomenal year,” Yost said. “He is human. Those things happen, but they’re so few and far in-between for him that it really stands out when it does.”