Angels Let McDowell Off Hook : Baseball: Close to chasing White Sox ace in third inning, they fail to capitalize during 6-4 loss and pitcher wins 18th.

CHICAGO —  The Angels showered quickly Saturday night, muttering to themselves while they dressed, piercing the air with occasional curses.

They actually had him, the Angels kept telling themselves. They had Jack McDowell on the ropes, only a hit away from knocking him out in the third inning and achieving one of their biggest victories of the season.

Instead, the man they call Black Jack emerged triumphant at the end of the night, sneering once again at another opponent after the Chicago White Sox had defeated the Angels, 6-4, at Comiskey Park.

“That was the most frustrating thing about the night,” Angel right fielder Tim Salmon said. “We saw they had the bullpen going in the third inning. We just needed one more hit and he was out of there. I mean, we had him . . . we really had him.”

Said Angel Manager Buck Rodgers: “Yeah, but we couldn’t finish him off.”

McDowell (18-6), overcoming a 4-2 deficit in the third inning, wound up with his sixth consecutive victory and became the first 18-game winner in the major leagues this season. He has won 18 games quicker than any pitcher since Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets in 1985, and the quickest by a White Sox pitcher since Wilbur Wood in 1973.

McDowell’s presence makes it easy to see why the White Sox lead the American League West and remain heavily favored to win the division.

“We’re in the driver’s seat right now,” said White Sox catcher Ron Karkovice, who hit two home runs against Angel starter John Farrell. “We need to go out there and just do our thing, and not even look at the scoreboard.

“If we do that, and knowing Jack’s on our side, believe me, everything’s going to be just fine.”

While the White Sox were raving about McDowell’s rope-a-dope performance--he pitched 8 2/3 innings, not giving up another run after the third--the Angels were left quite concerned about Farrell.

This was supposed to be Farrell’s coming-out party, showing that he is over the troubles that earned him a demotion to triple-A Vancouver in June and now is ready to pitch in the big leagues.

Instead, Farrell (2-9, 7.31 earned-run average) didn’t make it past the fifth inning. He was racked for six hits and five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, walking three batters and hitting another.

“There’s not a whole lot that’s different than the last time he was up here,” Rodgers said. “That’s not to say I’ve given up on him. This is his first time back, and you can’t make any rash judgments on his performance.”

Farrell was pitching with a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning, but then everything started to unravel. Karkovice opened the inning by hitting a 3-and-2 slider into the left-field seats for his second homer. Then, in what might have been the most critical play of the inning, Ozzie Guillen hit a sinking line drive to right field. Salmon lost the ball in the lights and it dropped beside him for a double.

“I didn’t even see it,” Salmon said. “I just stuck my glove out and hoped I got under it.”

It typified the way the game went for Salmon, who was robbed of a double by right fielder Ellis Burks in the third inning. He left the bases loaded in the seventh inning, and is hitting only .156 without an RBI in his last 10 games.

Luis Polonia provided the Angels’ most encouraging sign, producing his first four-hit game of the season.

“I think what did it for me was watching (Stan) Javier getting his four hits Friday,” Polonia said. “I was thinking, ‘Is it that easy? Do I just need to be patient?’ ”

“I think I’ve got my head right now, and definitely, my confidence is up. When you get four hits off a guy like Jack McDowell, it’s got to make you feel good.

“I wish he was pitching tomorrow, too.”