innings on July 20 and hit his first major league home run against Denny McLain (who would win 31 games that year) in the Orioles' 5–3 victory. In the last game of the streak, on September 28, he became a 20-game winner for the first time as the Orioles defeated the White Sox 4–2; McNally pitched the whole game, and the two runs he allowed were unearned. McNally finished the season among the AL leaders with 22 wins (second to McLain's 31), a 1.95 ERA (third behind Luis Tiant's 1.60 and Sam McDowell's 1.81), 202 strikeouts (fifth), five shutouts (tied with George Brunet for seventh), and 273 innings pitched (fourth). He broke Barney Pelty's franchise season record of walks plus hits per innings pitched that had been set in 1906, establishing the new franchise record of 0.852 and leading the AL. At the plate, McNally hit three home runs during the 1968 season; he would hit at least one each of the following seasons until the AL adopted the designated hitter rule in 1973. For his successful return from injury, McNally won the Major League Baseball Comeback Player of the Year Award. He finished fifth in AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting and was named Baltimore's MVP. In the World Series every year (1969–71) After winning the last two decisions of the 1968 season, McNally opened 1969 with a record; his first loss of the season came when he allowed a grand slam to Rich Reese in a loss to the Minnesota Twins on August 3, and he ended the regular season with a record. His 17 straight wins were an AL record at the time, and his 15 consecutive wins to open the season tied an AL record. He threw a four-hit shutout in a 9–0 victory over the Senators on April 12. On May 5, he had a no-hitter going until one out in the ninth inning, when Cesar Tovar singled; McNally got Rod Carew to hit into a double play to preserve the shutout. He threw back-to-back shutouts against the White Sox on June 15 and the Senators on June 19. He was named to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career. Though his record was only 5–7 in the season's final two months, he returned to the playoffs as the Orioles won the AL East. McNally's 20 wins tied Mel Stottlemyre and Dave