AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : McDowell’s Five-Inning Performance Good for 11th Victory

Jack McDowell did not have his best stuff Monday night, but the Chicago White Sox overcame their ace’s ineffectiveness for a 9-6 victory over the Indians at Cleveland.

McDowell gave up three home runs and lasted only five innings, but he became the American League’s second 11-game winner, joining Texas’ Kevin Brown.

McDowell (11-3) gave up six runs and 10 hits, including homers by Carlos Baerga, Jim Thome and Paul Sorrento and a run-scoring triple by Mark Whiten.

Bobby Thigpen pitched the ninth for his 18th save.

“I was just brutal,� said McDowell, who had pitched complete games in his last four appearances against the Indians. “I warmed up brutal and I took it out there with me. I’ll tell you, I was just trying to grind it out for five or six innings. That’s not the way I usually go out there.�

Robin Ventura, who had homered in each of the last three games, had four of the White Sox’s 12 hits and drove in two runs. George Bell also drove in two runs, giving him 14 runs batted in in seven games.

The Indians’ sloppiness gave the White Sox five unearned runs in a comical second inning against Scott Scudder (5-7). Second baseman Baerga committed two of the three errors in the inning.

The White Sox have won eight of their last nine.

The Indians have lost seven of nine.

Kansas City 7, New York 3--Kevin McReynolds, Gregg Jefferies and Keith Miller, playing their first game in New York since the Mets traded them to the Royals last December, went a combined seven for 14, scored four runs and drove in three at Yankee Stadium.

McReynolds had a run-scoring single during a four-run first inning and another in the fifth. Miller had three hits and scored three times. Jefferies had two hits, including a run-scoring single in the ninth.

George Brett, who doubled in the first inning against Jeff Johnson (2-3), singled in the eighth for the 2,900th hit of his 20-year career.

Mark Davis, Rusty Meacham and Jeff Montgomery combined on a five-hitter. Davis (1-2) gave up four hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his longest outing of the season.

Meacham allowed a hit and a run in the seventh, and Montgomery pitched two hitless innings for his 19th save.

Five of the game’s first six batters got hits for the Royals. Wally Joyner had a run-scoring double and Mike Macfarlane added a two-run double. Gary Thurman drove in a run in the sixth to put the Royals ahead 6-1.

Milwaukee 5, Baltimore 3--The Brewers scored four runs against Bob Milacki in 3 2/3 innings and held on for the victory at Baltimore.

Milacki’s performance was the latest in a series of poor outings by Oriole starters, who are 1-10 with a 6.36 earned-run average in the last 16 games. Milacki (5-5) is 0-2 with a 10.33 ERA in his last four starts.

The Orioles have lost three in a row and four of five.

Chris Bosio (6-4) and two relievers stopped the Orioles on six hits as the Brewers moved within three games of second-place Baltimore in the AL East. Mike Fetters pitched 2 1/3 innings for his first save.

“Our ballclub has the quality and the know-how to get the job done,� Milwaukee Manager Phil Garner said. “I very definitely believe we are going to be in the thick of this thing.�

Bosio was cruising along with a three-hit shutout until Cal Ripken Jr. got a one-out single in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games.

Toronto 11, Texas 4--Candy Maldonado and Joe Carter hit home runs and the Blue Jays tied a team record by drawing 13 walks in the victory at Toronto.

The Rangers, who lead the majors in walks, tied their club mark for walks allowed, and six of those batters eventually scored.

Bobby Witt (8-7) walked eight in four-plus innings, and he and Edwin Nunez each threw wild pitches that scored runs.

“I just tried to make too many corrections on the mound,� Witt said. “When I fell behind the hitters I started thinking too much. After that, one pitch led to another.�

Pat Hentgen (5-0) gave up two hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the Blue Jays.

Carter led off the seventh with his 16th home run. After a walk to Olerud, Maldonado hit his fifth home run.

Ranger catcher Ivan Rodriguez homered against Dave Stieb in the fourth.

Detroit 8, Boston 3--The Tigers capitalized on three errors for three unearned runs in the first inning and Travis Fryman hit two home runs at Detroit.

Frank Tanana (7-5) gave up five hits in seven innings and Kurt Knudsen pitched two perfect innings for his second save.

Boston shortstop Luis Rivera made a fielding error and a throwing error before Joe Hesketh (3-5) had faced five batters. Third baseman Wade Boggs made the other error.

Fryman’s two-run homer gave the Tigers a 5-0 lead in the second. Fryman led off the ninth with his 12th home run.

“They have one of the most complete offensive teams I’ve seen in my eight years in the big leagues,� Hesketh said.

Oakland 5, Seattle 4--Terry Steinbach and Willie Wilson had run-scoring singles in the 11th inning to give the Athletics the victory at Seattle.