Loaiza Gets 20th Win by Beating Yankees

When the last of the New York Yankees went down swinging, Esteban Loaiza walked out of the dugout to a standing ovation, his teammates waiting on the mound to congratulate him.

Seven months ago he was just trying to land a job, a nonroster invitee to spring training. Now he has won 20 games, a milestone even some of the best pitchers never reach.

“It’s really great,” said Loaiza, who became the fifth 20-game winner in the major leagues as he led the host Chicago White Sox over the Yankees, 9-4, on Wednesday.

“I want to finish the season strong. Now that I’ve got my 20th win, I want to go for 21. I want my teammates to leave happy when they see me on the mound on Sunday. Play hard and give it the best we’ve got,” Loaiza said.

Loaiza is Chicago’s first 20-game winner since Jack McDowell in 1993. He also joins Fernando Valenzuela and Teddy Higuera as the only Mexican-born pitchers to win 20 games.

Detroit 4, Kansas City 3 -- The visiting Tigers remained two losses short of the modern major league record as Shane Loux earned his first major league victory.

The Tigers won consecutive games for the first time since winning three in a row from Cleveland on Sept. 2-4. Detroit must go 3-1 in its season-ending home stand against Minnesota to avoid tying the post-1900 record of 120 losses set by the 1962 New York Mets.

Minnesota 3, Cleveland 2 -- Michael Cuddyer hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning at Minneapolis and the Twins won their 11th consecutive game.

The Twins’ winning string is their longest since a 15-game streak in 1991, the last year they won the World Series. Minnesota’s 45-20 record since the All-Star break is tops in the majors.

Oakland 5, Texas 3 -- Jose Guillen, playing with a broken bone in his left hand, hit a two-run homer and squeezed home the go-ahead run at Oakland. Alex Rodriguez didn’t play, ending his consecutive games streak at 546.

Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 3 -- Kelvim Escobar tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts to lead the Blue Jays at Toronto.