Roy Halladay became the first 20-game winner in the Major League this season, pitching a five-hitter which led the Toronto Blue Jays over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-1 on Thursday.
Halladay (20-6) has seven complete games this year, including his past three starts. He beat the New York Yankees 8-1 on Sept. 1, then had a 10-inning, 1-0 shutout five days later over Detroit.
"He's amazing," Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca said. "If there's a better pitcher out there right now, we haven't seen him. He's the whole package."
The 26-year-old right hander's career-high streak of 23 scoreless innings ended when Tampa Bay scored an unearned run in the sixth.
Halladay struck out three, walked two and needed only 93 pitches to win. He is Toronto's first 20-game winner since David Wells went 20-8 in 2000.
"He's as good a pitcher as there is in the league. There's no question about it," Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella said.
Greg Myers homered for the Blue Jays.
Twins 5, White Sox 2
In Chicago, Brad Radke pitched a complete game to win his most important start of the season and Minnesota beat Esteban Loaiza and Chicago to move into a tie for the AL Central lead.
Shannon Stewart and Denny Hocking each drove in two runs as the Twins salvaged a split of the key four-game series. The teams meet for a three-game set next week at the Metrodome.
Radke (12-10) gave up nine hits, walked none and struck out five in his third complete game this season. It was his fourth straight victory.
Indians 6, Royals 5
In Kansas City, Missouri, Alex Escobar had his second straight three-hit game, driving in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single as Cleveland beat Kansas City.
The Royals stayed 3 games back of first place in the AL Central.
Danys Baez (2-8) earned the win with a scoreless inning. Jason Grimsley (2-6) took the loss in a game delayed twice by rain.
Athletics 14, Angels 4
In Oakland, California, Eric Chavez hit two of Oakland's six homers and the Athletics beat Anaheim for their third straight victory.
Eric Byrnes and pinch-hitter Billy McMillon hit three-run homers, and Ramon Hernandez and Mark Ellis also homered as the A's wrapped up their next-to-last homestand of the regular season with an impressive power display in their 11th victory in 12 games at the Coliseum.
Miguel Tejada and Jose Guillen also had RBI singles for Oakland, which won the final three games of its series with the Angels to maintain its lead atop the AL West.
Yankees 5, Tigers 2
In New York, Roger Clemens got his 307th victory, and Jorge Posada hit a go-ahead, two-run single and made a tag at home plate to lead New York over Detroit.
Nick Johnson and Bernie Williams added solo homers for the Yankees, who have won five straight games to boost their AL East lead to four games.
Detroit (37-108), which has dropped six straight, has lost the most games in the major leagues since the 1998 Florida Marlins went 54-108.
Detroit needs six wins in its final 17 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses in a season set by the 1962 New York Mets.
Mariners 8, Rangers 2
In Seattle, Gil Meche pitched eight steady innings for his 15th win and Randy Winn had three hits as Seattle beat Texas.
The Mariners stayed 2 1/2 games behind first-place Oakland in the AL West and moved within 1 1/2 games of Boston for the wild card.
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