When Jack McDowell faced Detroit on May 1 in Tiger Stadium, the Tigers lit him up for six runs on seven hits in three innings, including an over-the-roof homer by Kirk Gibson.
Wednesday afternoon on the South Side, McDowell shut out the top run-producing team in baseball on six hits, running his July record to 4-1.
McDowell said his misfortunes “snowballed” at the start of the season and promised that the McDowell you see is the McDowell you’ll get for the rest of the season. He has struck out 34 batters in his last 31 2/3 innings and has a 1.54 earned-run average over his last six starts.
“It took me far too long to get out of that,” McDowell said. “That’s something I experienced. I’ve put it behind me now and it won’t happen again.”
Big shin: Frank Thomas isn’t worried about the contusion on his left shin and said it doesn’t affect his hitting.
“It’s not like it’s my pushoff leg or anything,” he said.
Thomas was the designated hitter for the third straight day Wednesday, but he said he will be able to play first base in Cleveland. He incurred the minor injury in Milwaukee before the All-Star Game.
“I hit the ball square to the leg,” he said. “Believe me, it hurt. I went straight to Pittsburgh and didn’t get any treatment on it. Really, it was fine. Then, the other night, I woke up and it was really swollen.”
Cork-o-rama: While no one has been officially fingered in the bat-switching affair of last weekend, Mike Seghi, Cleveland’s traveling secretary, is rumored to be the prime suspect.
Honors: James Baldwin of the Sox’s Triple-A Nashville affiliate was named Minor League Pitcher of the Week.
