Chicago ? An early four-run lead got away from Esteban Loaiza. Thanks to some late offense from his White Sox teammates, he still became the first 19-game winner in the major leagues.

“It’s a big victory for us and especially for me after pitching seven innings and giving up five runs and two homers,” Loaiza said Saturday after Chicago rallied to beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-5. “We got runs at the end and ended up winning and that’s what it’s all about.”

Chicago remained tied for the AL Central lead with Minnesota, which beat Texas, 5-2.

Loaiza (19-6), who went to spring training with a minor-league contract and then started the All-Star game, wasn’t sharp, allowing five runs and eight hits in seven innings while striking out 10. But his offense bailed him out after he couldn’t hold a 4-0 lead.

Paul Konerko homered to tie it in the sixth and then hit a two-run, go-ahead single in the seventh.

“It’s really nice. I’ve still got more starts, I’ve got 19 under my belt,” said Loaiza, who will go for No. 20 Thursday against the Twins. “There will be a lot of pressure, especially thinking about it now. But on game day, I’ll just go out and throw strikes.”

Konerko’s 17th homer, on Rafael Betancourt’s second pitch in the sixth inning, tied the game at 5. The White Sox then scored three times with two outs in the seventh.

Jack Cressend (2-1) surrendered a single to Roberto Alomar, and Magglio Ordonez doubled with two outs. Danys Baez relieved, Konerko fouled a ball off a leg and hobbled around, then grounded a two-run single to left for a 7-5 lead.

“It was pretty painful. I don’t know if I’ve ever fouled a ball off the back of my right knee,” Konerko said. “It takes a special hitter to do that. It’s pretty painful, but I’ll get some ice on it and it won’t slow me down.”

Chicago's Esteban Loaiza delivers against Cleveland. Loaiza recorded his 19th victory of the season as the White Sox defeated the Indians, 8-5, Saturday in Chicago.

Carl Everett’s single and an RBI double by Joe Crede off Baez increased the lead to three runs.

Twins 5, Rangers 2

Minneapolis — A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer and Brad Radke pitched seven strong innings as Minnesota beat Texas. Shannon Stewart went 3-for-5 with an RBI as the Twins won their fourth straight game and remained tied with Chicago for the AL Central lead.

Minnesota, which beat the Rangers 10-7 Friday night, won its fourth straight series and improved to 31-17 since the All-Star break.

Shane Spencer drove in both runs for Texas, which has lost five straight road games and 10 of 15 games overall.

Radke (11-10) allowed two runs and five hits, while striking out four and walking none. He has won his last three decisions. LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless eighth, and Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his 33rd save in 36 chances.

Red Sox 11, Yankees 0

New York — Kevin Millar and Nomar Garciaparra homered off Roger Clemens as Boston battered New York Yankees for the second straight day, breezing behind Tim Wakefield for its fifth straight win. With chants of “Let’s go, Red Sox!” reverberating through the crowd of 55,237, Boston cut the Yankees’ lead in the AL East to 11/2 games, their slimmest margin since July 29. It was the most-lopsided shutout loss for New York at Yankee Stadium since Milwaukee won 12-0 April 27, 1984.

A day after Yankees owner George Steinbrenner besieged his players and staff during a 9-3 loss, the Boss was not seen as the Red Sox romped to a 7-0 edge. Todd Walker added a late three-run homer. Boston chased Clemens with six runs in the fourth inning.

Devil Rays 7, Athletics 4

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Pete LaForest and Carl Crawford drove in two runs each to lead Tampa Bay past Oakland. LaForest hit a two-run double and Crawford had a pair of RBI singles for the Devil Rays (56-84), who surpassed their 2002 victory total.

Tampa Bay’s Aubrey Huff stole home in the seventh. He broke for the plate as pinch-hitter Terry Shumpert got into position for a bunt, and Ricardo Rincon’s pitch went behind Shumpert, allowing Huff to score. Jose Guillen homered and drove in two runs for the AL West-leading Athletics, who began the day with a two-game lead over Seattle.

Orioles 3, Mariners 1

Baltimore — Eric DuBose allowed one run in eight innings and Tony Batista homered and drove in two runs as Baltimore defeated Jamie Moyer and Seattle. Moyer (17-7) allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings in losing to Baltimore for the first time since May 30, 1989. The left-hander had won 14 straight decisions against the Orioles and was 14-1 lifetime in 21 appearances. It was the longest current streak in the majors.

The loss dropped Seattle 11/2 games behind Boston in the wild-card race and kept the Mariners two games back of Oakland in the AL West.

Blue Jays 1, Tigers 0 (10)

Toronto — Roy Halladay pitched the first extra-inning shutout in the major leagues since Jack Morris in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, leading Toronto over Detroit. Halladay (19-6) didn’t allow a hit until pinch-hitter Kevin Witt doubled off the wall in left-center with two outs in the eighth. He finished with a three-hitter.

The last extra-inning shutout had been Morris’ seven-hit, 1-0 victory for Minnesota over Atlanta in the ’91 Series. Dave Stewart had the last one during the regular season, allowing five hits over 11 innings as Oakland beat Seattle 1-0 on Aug. 1, 1990.