DETROIT ? Faced with the go-ahead run on second base and Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez coming up for Chicago in the eighth inning, Detroit manager Alan Trammell had some difficult decisions to make.

Trammell chose to walk Thomas intentionally and pitch to Ordonez, who hit a tiebreaking single in Chicago’s 6-1 victory Sunday over the Tigers.

“Pick your poison — Frank Thomas or Magglio Ordonez,” Trammell said. “That’s just like with Boston, it’s either Nomar Garciaparra or Manny Ramirez.”

With the victory, Esteban Loaiza became the AL’s first 18-game winner. Loaiza (18-6) allowed one run and four hits, struck out eight and one walk in eight innings.

“I just wanted to go out there and battle. I never thought I’d have 18 wins,” said Loaiza, a non-roster invitee to training camp. “I’m still battling. I’m still working hard. I still want to get every single start that I can and win it.”

Chicago leads the AL Central by 1 1/2 games over Minnesota and Kansas City.

The Tigers lost their 101st game a day after joining the 1962 New York Mets as the only teams in the modern era to lose 100 games before September.

With the White Sox trailing 1-0, Joe Crede tied it with a leadoff homer — his 18th. Roberto Alomar, who had three doubles, had a two-base hit one out later. One out later, Thomas came to the plate.

Trammell sent out pitching coach Bob Cluck to ask starter Nate Cornejo (6-14) if he wanted to face Thomas, and the answer was an emphatic yes. But after the first two pitches were balls, Trammell called for the intentional walk.

Ordonez then lined a single to left to score Alomar with two outs.

Chicago's Joe Crede, right, is congratulated by pitcher Bartolo Colon after scoring in the ninth inning. The White Sox won, 6-1, Sunday in Detroit.

“I don’t know why they do that because I hit pretty good against Cornejo,” Ordonez said. “But it’s part of the game. It’s something you can’t control. You just try to do your job and get a hit.”

Yankees 8, Red Sox 4

Boston — Roger Clemens got his 100th win at Fenway Park in his final regular-season start there, and New York moved 51/2 games ahead of Boston in the AL East. Clemens allowed four runs on six hits in 62/3 innings, and the Yankees took two of three games in the series. The capacity crowd gave him a standing ovation when he left.

A’s 4, Devil Rays 3

Oakland, Calif. — Miguel Tejada homered, and rookie Rich Harden got his first win in five starts as Oakland finished a perfect homestand by beating Tampa Bay for its ninth straight victory.

Mariners 3, Orioles 0

Seattle — Jamie Moyer beat Baltimore for the 14th consecutive time — the longest current streak by a pitcher against one team — and Seattle completed a three-game sweep.

Rangers 11, Twins 10

Arlington, Texas — Alex Rodriguez became the second player in major-league history with six straight 40-homer seasons, and Einar Diaz singled home the winning run in the ninth inning.

Indians 5, Blue Jays 4

Cleveland — Ninth-inning throwing errors by catcher Kevin Cash and first baseman Frank Catalanotto allowed Cleveland to score two runs.