AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : McDowell Wins 15th With Help From Radinsky

Jack McDowell’s strange season has taken another upswing.

When the Chicago White Sox pitcher opened with seven consecutive victories in five weeks, there was talk of a 30-victory season.

Then came a struggling month in which he wondered if he would ever win again.

The former Stanford star became the American League’s first 15-game winner Sunday when he pitched seven innings in the White Sox’s 7-4 victory over Seattle at Chicago.

Robin Ventura broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run double in the seventh inning, and Scott Radinsky pitched two scoreless innings to save it. McDowell is 5-0 lifetime against the Mariners.

McDowell (15-5) has won three games in a row and appears to be the pitcher in the American League with the best chance to win 20 games.

Except for a three-game slump in May, he has had an exceptional season.

He went the distance in three defeats in which the White Sox scored a total of four runs. He also pitched well in two games but did not get a decision.

The last White Sox pitcher to win 20 was LaMarr Hoyt, who was 24-10 in 1983. With 58 games left, McDowell figures to get 11 or 12 more starts.

“I’ve been able to make big pitches to get out of bad situations,” McDowell said. “It automatically highlights those situations when your team can come back and pick me up, and they’ve been doing that for me all year.”

“Sure, it’s in the back of my mind,” he said. “I’m well ahead of last year’s pace. I remember I didn’t get my 15th win until late in August.”

But McDowell won only two of eight starts after Aug. 24 last year.

Dave Fleming (12-5) was the losing pitcher. He gave up six runs--four earned--and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked three.

Minnesota 5, Milwaukee 0--The Twins put Jeff Reboulet on the roster because of his defense and versatility.

His bat gave the Twins a victory over Milwaukee. The rookie utility man was batting only .190 when he took over at second base at Minneapolis to give Chuck Knoblauch a rest.

Reboulet hit his first major league home run and drove in three runs, going two for two to raise his average 25 points and lead the Twins to their third victory in a row.

Scott Erickson pitched a four-hitter to improve his record to 8-7.

Detroit 5, Cleveland 4--Cecil Fielder completed his big weekend at Cleveland with another home run.

Fielder, who has led the majors in home runs and runs batted in the past two seasons, had four home runs and 11 RBIs in three games, but this is the only one the Tigers won.

Baltimore 2, Boston 1--Cal Ripken Jr., shaking a three-for-16 slump, singled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning to give Ben McDonald (11-7) the victory.

Tony Pena doubled in Scott Cooper from second in the seventh for Boston’s run after Leo Gomez homered in the top of the inning.

Toronto 7, New York 6--The Blue Jays had to come from behind at Toronto to win their fourth in a row and remain 4 1/2 games ahead of Baltimore.

The Blue Jays trailed, 5-3, with two out in the seventh inning when Alfredo Griffin singled and Devon White doubled. Roberto Alomar doubled home two runs to tie the score, and Joe Carter followed with his 22nd home run.

Oakland 8, Kansas City 4--Carney Lansford hit a two-run home run to cap a six-run sixth inning at Kansas City that ended the Athletics’ two-game losing streak.

The Royals, behind rookie Dennis Moeller, led, 2-0, but Juan Berenguer took over in the sixth and the Athletics soon routed him.

Bob Welch gave up 11 hits in eight innings but settled down after a rocky start and improved his record to 9-5.