AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : In Return to Chicago, McDowell Pitches Yankees Past White Sox, 8-4

Jack McDowell came home to a ballpark full of memories--some good, some bad.

Pitching against a team he once led to a division title, the Chicago White Sox, he tuned out the boos, overcame a shaky beginning and kept his emotions under control. The result was vintage McDowell--a complete-game 8-4 victory for the New York Yankees that wasn’t pretty.

New York broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the seventh off Scott Radinsky as McDowell (5-5) won for the fourth time in five starts. The White Sox’s largest home crowd of the season, 36,346, attended and many booed when McDowell was introduced.

“It was definitely different to say the least. It was the first time I’d pitched here without those guys behind me,” McDowell said after throwing a six-hitter.

Danny Tartabull hit his fifth homer of the season in the seventh off Radinsky (2-1) to make it 5-4 and Tony Fernandez delivered an RBI single after a triple by Don Mattingly to give McDowell a two-run lead.

McDowell, who gave up six hits, walked three, and struck out seven, survived a shaky first when Lance Johnson tripled and Frank Thomas walked. After Robin Ventura struck out, John Kruk hit a a 408-foot homer to center field for a 3-0 lead, his first homer since Aug. 8.

McDowell was 91-58 in his seven often-tumultuous seasons with the White Sox and won the 1993 Cy Young Award. He was a frequent critic of team management and lost arbitration hearings with the Sox.

After losing his arbitration hearing at the start of spring training in 1994--he still made more than $5 million--he declared he would not return. And he didn’t as the White Sox traded him last December for pitcher Keith Heberling and outfielder Lyle Mouton.

Boston 12, Kansas City 5--Mo Vaughn had a bases-loaded triple and his second consecutive two-homer game and the Red Sox won at Kansas City, beating Kevin Appier (11-4) the day after he was named to his first All-Star game.

Vaughn’s two-run homer capped a three-run third inning for the Red Sox. The first baseman then keyed a seven-run fourth with a three-run triple that got past Tom Goodwin in center field. Then he added a solo home run off Billy Brewer in the eighth.

Appier, the winningest pitcher in the major leagues, lasted only 3 2/3 innings, his shortest stint of the year.

Cleveland 9, Texas 1--Charles Nagy pitched seven scoreless innings at Cleveland, and Sandy Alomar and Herbert Perry homered for the Indians.

Nagy (6-4) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked three.

Eric Plunk pitched a scoreless eighth but Paul Assenmacher allowed Ivan Rodriguez’s homer in the ninth. Kenny Rogers (8-4) was the loser.

Detroit 4, Seattle 2--Streaking David Wells, Detroit’s lone All-Star, continued his home dominance and his Tiger teammates hit three home runs at Detroit in a victory over the Mariners.

Wells (7-3) gave up six hits before leaving with no outs and the bases loaded in the ninth. Mike Henneman allowed a two-run single to Jay Buhner, then forced Mike Blowers to hit into a double play and struck out Tino Martinez with a runner on third for his 15th save.

Detroit moved back to .500 for the third time in nine days as Wells won his fifth consecutive start.

Baltimore 9, Minnesota 4--Rafael Palmeiro’s second homer of the game snapped a seventh-inning tie and carried the surging Orioles past the Twins at Baltimore.

Mike Mussina (8-5) struck out 10 in seven innings for the Orioles, who have won three in a row and seven of nine.

Baltimore’s Brady Anderson stole second base in the fifth, extending his league record to 36 in a row. But he then tried to steal third and was thrown out, the first time he was caught since May 13, 1994, at the Metrodome. Matt Walbeck was the Minnesota catcher on both occasions.

Milwaukee 7, Oakland 3--Kevin Seitzer’s single broke a 10th-inning tie and Matt Mieske followed with a three-run homer to cap a four-run rally at Oakland, lifting the Brewers to a victory over the Athletics.

Oakland pitcher Todd Van Poppel (1-2), who struck out the side in the ninth, walked Jose Valentin with one out to start Milwaukee’s winning rally. Valentin stole second and went to third when Van Poppel threw a wild pitch on a two-out walk to Darryl Hamilton.

Seitzer singled sharply to left on an 0-2 pitch to give the Brewers the lead, and Mieske followed with his fourth homer of the season well into the left-field bleachers.

Ron Rightnower (2-1) gained the victory after giving up the tying run in the eighth.