Jack Mcdowell

Quote: "I get a lot of fun out of winning the game in general. Now, in the last month of the season, it's pressure-packed. You've got to win every game. But this is also the fun part." -- Will Clark of the Rangers, whose 10th-inning homer won the first game of the doubleheader.It's a fact: Comedian Billy Crystal threw out the ceremonial first ball at Yankee Stadium and imitated Orlando Hernandez's high leg kick.Who's hot: The Angels' Tim Salmon is hitting .437 in his past 24 games.Who's not: The Tigers have been outscored, 121-57, in the first inning this season.

Scouting report: Angels vs. OriolesAt Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay Time TV StartersTonight 7: 35 13, 50 Jack McDowell (1999 debut) vs. Juan Guzman (4-8, 4.53)Tomorrow 4: 05 HTS Ken Hill (3-8, 5.23) vs. Jason Johnson (1-4, 5.73)Sunday 1: 35 54, 50 Chuck Finley (5-9, 5.59) vs. Sidney Ponson (9-6, 3.74)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Angels update Angels statisticsThe Angels come in having lost seven straight and are a season-worst 12 1/2 games out of first place. They have yet to win more than four consecutive games and their offense ranks last in the league in runs scored, 12th in average and 13th in slugging percentage.

At Comiskey Park, ChicagoDay Time TV StartersTonight 8:05 HTS Mike Mussina (7-1, 2.62) vs.Wilson Alvarez (7-0, 2.73)Tomorrow night 7:05 13, 50 Ben McDonald (8-2, 3.65) vs.Jason Bere (5-1, 3.36)Sunday 2:35 54, 20 Sid Fernandez (2-2, 4.24) vs.Jack McDowell (2-6, 6.67)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)White Sox update White Sox statisticsThe White Sox have won five in a row and eight of their past nine games. They are coming off a 12-1 win over Minnesota, a win in which reigning American League Most Valuable Player Frank Thomas hit two home runs and drove in five runs.

Quote: "I get a lot of fun out of winning the game in general. Now, in the last month of the season, it's pressure-packed. You've got to win every game. But this is also the fun part." -- Will Clark of the Rangers, whose 10th-inning homer won the first game of the doubleheader.It's a fact: Comedian Billy Crystal threw out the ceremonial first ball at Yankee Stadium and imitated Orlando Hernandez's high leg kick.Who's hot: The Angels' Tim Salmon is hitting .437 in his past 24 games.Who's not: The Tigers have been outscored, 121-57, in the first inning this season.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay, Time, TV, StartersTonight, 7:35, 13, 50, Chuck Finley (11-6, 3.08) vs. Scott Erickson (14-11, 4.08)Tomorrow, 1:15, 45, Steve Sparks (9-3, 4.47) vs. Mike Mussina(13-8, 3.45)Sunday, 1:35, 54, 50, Jack McDowell (4-3, 4.12) vs. Sidney Ponson (7-8, 5.40)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Angels updateIn explaining their disappointing season, the Orioles claim no team could lose three of its five Opening Day starting pitchers and remain competitive.

Edison International Field of Anaheim (Calif.)Day Time, TV, StartersTonight 10: 05, HTS, Doug Drabek (1-2, 7.63 ERA) vs. Ken Hill (2-1, 2.50 ERA)Tomorrow 10: 05, HTS, Undecided vs. Jack McDowell (1-1, 3.86 ERA)Wednesday 10: 35, HTS, Scott Erickson (3-1, 5.55 ERA) vs. Chuck Finley (3-0, 0.56 ERA)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Angels updateThe Angels rank among the AL pitching leaders with a 4.23 ERA, but are hitting only .250. Their eight errors are the second-fewest in the league.

MIAMI -- This is baseball in the '90s. The Florida Marlins and Cleveland Indians had not even taken the field for the final game of the 93rd World Series when the talk turned to the possible makeup of both clubs for 1998.The Marlins are in danger of being dismantled. Owner H. Wayne Huizenga put the club up for sale last summer and -- even though the Marlins reached the World Series -- figures to decrease the payroll this winter.The Indians are looking in the other direction. General manager John Hart confirmed yesterday that they are interested in signing a front-line starting pitcher and acquiring a premier second baseman, but probably will wait until after the expansion draft to decide how to go about it."

Three weeks to win a pennant, that's what this is. Three weeks to win a pennant, and the Orioles are already behind.They're going to catch up, because they can't help but catch up. For once, they have no excuse, with only a handful of other clubs willing to add salaries.Indeed, this is a defining moment for general manager Roland Hemond, even though Peter Angelos is the self-proclaimed "supreme and complete boss," not to mention commissioner/owner/GM.Another "Oops, we lost Ron Gant," and Angelos will be mighty hot.The New York Yankees already have pulled off the deal of the year.

CHICAGO -- If the Orioles are looking for a way to gauge their offensive progress since Opening Day they'll have the perfect measuring stick tonight (8:05, Ch. 2). They also would seem to have the right man pitching as they attempt to break a two-game losing streak.Chicago righthander Jack McDowell (2-1, 3.48), who stifled the Orioles on four hits in the first game of the season, makes his fourth start of the year. He will be opposed by Dave Johnson (1-1, 5.23), who is working on a rather remarkable streak of his own. He is 10-0 going back to the start of last year in games he has pitched after the Orioles have lost, and already has helped snap one two-game losing streak this year.

There was the news conference when he first signed, and the game Hagerstown played last summer after an Orioles contest, but, other than that, the new Orioles pitcher had not spent any time in Baltimore.Even when the call came last week that the Orioles wanted him, it was in Chicago, not Baltimore.But the night has finally come for Mike Mussina to make his Memorial Stadium debut, on this, the 29th to last game in the stadium that has been home to the Orioles since 1954. It will come against the same White Sox Mussina faced last Sunday in his major-league debut.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- There is a huge rock formation behind center field at newly remodeled Edison International Field. The only thing missing from this Disney tableau is the runaway mine train, but the newly remodeled Anaheim Angels have made up for that with a wild ride through the early weeks of the 1998 season.The Angels have one of the best young offensive teams in baseball, but they have struggled through a tough April schedule and enter a three-game series against the Orioles tonight still looking to turn that offensive potential into production.

Edison International Field of Anaheim (Calif.)Day Time, TV, StartersTonight 10: 05, HTS, Doug Drabek (1-2, 7.63 ERA) vs. Ken Hill (2-1, 2.50 ERA)Tomorrow 10: 05, HTS, Undecided vs. Jack McDowell (1-1, 3.86 ERA)Wednesday 10: 35, HTS, Scott Erickson (3-1, 5.55 ERA) vs. Chuck Finley (3-0, 0.56 ERA)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Angels updateThe Angels rank among the AL pitching leaders with a 4.23 ERA, but are hitting only .250. Their eight errors are the second-fewest in the league.

MIAMI -- This is baseball in the '90s. The Florida Marlins and Cleveland Indians had not even taken the field for the final game of the 93rd World Series when the talk turned to the possible makeup of both clubs for 1998.The Marlins are in danger of being dismantled. Owner H. Wayne Huizenga put the club up for sale last summer and -- even though the Marlins reached the World Series -- figures to decrease the payroll this winter.The Indians are looking in the other direction. General manager John Hart confirmed yesterday that they are interested in signing a front-line starting pitcher and acquiring a premier second baseman, but probably will wait until after the expansion draft to decide how to go about it."

IndiansWhere they're coming from: Cleveland spent 170 days in first place and won the division by 14 1/2 games with a 99-62 record before losing to the Orioles in the Division Series. The Indians were the first major-league team to lead its league in both batting average and ERA in consecutive seasons.Where they're going: Baseball's dominant regular-season team each of the past two seasons is going back to the top, with a new cast of characters and a lot more character.Key newcomers: 3B Matt Williams, CF Marquis Grissom, LF David Justice, RP Mike Jackson, DH Kevin Mitchell, IF Tony Fernandez.

O's Mike Mussina (19-11, 4.81) vs. Indians' Jack McDowell (13-9, 5.11)What Mussina throws: Fastball, changeup, knuckle-curveball. Mussina's fastball can range from about 85-86 mph on his bad TC days to overpowering, in the low-90s.Mussina of late: He pitched extremely well in his last outing, in Toronto, allowing a run in eight innings against the Blue Jays. He retired the first six and the last seven hitters he faced. Before that, however, Mussina had been struggling.Something to look for: Mussina's fastball can be a barometer.

NEW YORK YANKEESWhere they're coming from: The Yankees won 19 of 22 games after the All-Star break and finished in first place by 6 1/2 games at 70-43.Where they're going: To the playoffs for the first time since 1B Don Mattingly joined the team in 1982. Tigers manager Sparky Anderson says this team is better than those during New York's most recent dynasty, 1976 to 1981. Hyperbole, probably; impossible, no.Key newcomers: P Jack McDowell (most wins in AL in 1990s), P John Wetteland (25 saves)

MILWAUKEE -- Infielder Tim Hulett returned to the Orioles' lineup last night and made an immediate contribution in his first start since suffering a groin strain on June 9.Hulett delivered a two-out single in the second inning that brought home Mike Devereaux with the first run of the game.The veteran utility man already had made one late-inning appearance at shortstop since he suffered the strain, but manager Johnny Oates has been careful not to put him at risk of aggravating the injury.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- New York Yankees third baseman Wade Boggs has a message for the other American League East contenders, at least one of whom was caught looking when the best team in the division added front-line starter Jack McDowell and top-notch reliever John Wetteland."