KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Esteban Loaiza completed a special season with a record-tying performance.
Loaiza recorded his 21st win of the season, flirting with a no-hitter, as the Chicago White Sox edged the surprising Kansas City Royals, 5-1, in the season finale for both squads.
Loaiza (21-9) tied Fernando Valenzuela's single-season record for wins by a Mexican-born pitcher with another outstanding performance. Entering this season with a lifetime mark of 60-73, Loaiza may have been baseball's biggest surprise.
In the top three in the American League in wins, ERA and strikeouts, Loaiza held Kansas City hitless through 6 2/3 innings. He left after 7 1/3, having yielded one run and three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
The veteran righthander got the opportunity to start Sunday when teammate Mark Buehrle gave up his turn in the rotation to let Loaiza go for the record.
"I felt strong and we finished great and I got my 21st win," Loaiza said. "All season long I've been working hard and they've played hard behind me. They got me some runs in the fourth inning, we won and everybody goes home happy."
"We tried to accomplish a lot of things in the end individually," White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. "It might give (Loaiza) a good shot at the Cy Young. I don't know how that would go. That would be a great accomplishment for him."
While Chicago went 86-76, a five-game improvement over 2002, Kansas City was among the top stories in the sport. In manager Tony Pena's first full season, the Royals went from 62-100 to 83-79.
"Today, when I met with the team after the game, it was a great moment to say goodbye to my boys," Pena said. "They deserve a lot of respect. With this ballclub, there was not one player worried about his numbers. They weren't worried about their stats. They were worried about winning. They sacrificed themselves to become a winner."
"I thought he had a great year and that it was appropriate for the opposing manager to show appreciation for what a great job he did," said Manuel, who is expected to be fired.
The Kansas City players were excited about what they accomplished in 2003.
"It's been pretty gratifying to get to the end of the season and be a part of what's happened here," third baseman Joe Randa said. "I couldn't have wrote a better script for what has happened from spring training up to today."
"This year has been great," added center fielder Carlos Beltran, who can be a free agent in November. "I wanted to play for a winning team and now I got an opportunity to play for a winning team. We'll see what we can get done over the winter."
Loaiza lost his no-hit bid when Julius Matos doubled and was removed after striking out Michael Tucker for the first out in the eighth. That strikeout was his 207th of the season - one more than Boston's Pedro Martinez for the league lead.
"I feel good," Loaiza said. "I never thought that, you know ... 200 strikeouts was my goal, and now I (have the lead) and now it's time for me to relax."
Chicago's Carlos Lee scored a run in the fourth and reached 30 homers, 100 runs and 100 RBI in a season for the first time in his career.
After the game, Manuel sounded like a manager resigned to his fate.
"I'd like to manage (again)," he said. "Hopefully, that happens. If not, I like baseball. I like being involved in baseball and I'll do what I can. I need time off. I'm sure every baseball man is the same way. Once the season ends, you need time off."
"If we had a better half, a better first half, none of this would be happening for (Jerry)," Loaiza said. "It's just one of those things where baseball is baseball; you never know what is going to happen."
