BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS : Stewart Gets Perfect Chance to Clinch

The Blue Jays refrained from pouring champagne on one another in their boisterous clubhouse Sunday, but considering who’s pitching Tuesday, they can’t help but believe these American League playoffs are as good as over.

Just moments after defeating the Chicago White Sox, 5-3, they started talking about the man that they believe will wrap it up for them. They call him Stew--David Keith Stewart.

Stewart is the money man. He is 7-0 with a 1.99 earned-run average in nine career starts in the American League playoffs, and his team never has lost. Three times he has won the clinching game. He intends to make it four.

“I’m not going to be rattled in this situation,” Stewart said. “I’m not going to be nervous about the fact that it’s a game where we can clinch. I’m already looking forward to it.

“It’s a situation as a kid that you dream about, I’ve practiced it, dreamt it, and now I have a chance to live it.”

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Considering the White Sox’s success on the road this season, it was suggested to shortstop Ozzie Guillen that perhaps they could petition the league to continue their playoff series at Wrigley Field--home of the Cubs. “If I say something like that,” Guillen said, “my house will be blown up into the sky.”

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Blue Jay right fielder Joe Carter, trying to make sense of Jack McDowell’s woes against the Blue Jays, contends that he might know the reason. It was the game in May, 1991, he said, when McDowell hit former Blue Jay outfielder Mark Whiten with a pitch.

Whiten charged the mound, and as Carter will attest, McDowell hasn’t been the same since. McDowell is 1-7 with a 5.83 ERA in the eight starts against Toronto since the incident.

“One thing that stands out for me is that since ‘91,” Carter said, “he hasn’t been the same. Maybe he’s afraid to pitch inside now. He did before, and he had a lot of success. Now, he doesn’t.”

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White Sox leadoff hitter Tim Raines, who tied the American League playoff record with 11 hits in a series, on the struggles of starter Jack McDowell: “I really feel for Jack. Jack’s been there for us all year. It’s just a situation that he’s facing some guys who can really swing the bat.

“The way they’re swinging (.309 batting average), I know I’d hate to face them.”