BASEBALL MISCELLANY : NAMES AND NUMBERS

Russ Nixon: In his first series as successor to manager Chuck Tanner, the Atlanta Braves won two of three games from the Chicago Cubs, limiting the Cubs to three runs in the three games. Tanner managed the Braves for 361 games and they never held opponents to three runs or fewer in any three-game stretch.

Angels: Wally Joyner, Jack Howell and Chili Davis combined to hit 81 home runs last year. They had eight through Friday, projecting to 28 for the season.

Pedro Guerrero: The Dodgers continued to pay his salary during his four-day suspension. Based on his $1.7-million salary, that’s a $39,536 paid vacation.

Dave Stewart: The Oakland Athletics pitcher lost twice to the Baltimore Orioles during an 11-day span and is 0-3 against the Orioles in the last two years and 28-13 against the rest of the American League.

Carney Lansford: The Oakland third baseman is the only right-handed hitter to win the American League batting title in the last 18 years--he did it in 1981--and is bidding to do so again. The Athletics have never had a player with 200 or more hits, but Lansford’s pace projects to 275.

Dale Sveum: The Milwaukee Brewers shortstop has already made 16 errors, 14 at County Stadium, which he has compared to a rock quarry.

Wrigley Field: With the wind blowing in, the Chicago Cubs entered a weekend series against the Houston Astros having failed to hit a home run there in 92 innings. But Rafael Palmeiro and Jody Davis each hit three in the last two games.

Darrell Evans: The Detroit Tiger designated hitter and first baseman caught up with his uniform number Thursday, turning 41. Evans wasn’t celebrating. He has a .197 batting average, 3 home runs and 14 runs batted in through Friday. “It seems impossible to me that I’ve lost it all of a sudden,” he said.

The Cleveland Indians: Their 1987 pitching staff allowed 957 runs, the most in baseball since 1939. The 1988 staff, through 45 games, had allowed 172 runs, projecting to 619 for the season, a whopping improvement of more than 325 runs.

The San Francisco Giants: While the rest of the National League West had gone 2-19 against the New York Mets as of Friday, the Giants were 5-1 against the East’s best, including a 2-0 mark by Mike Krukow, improving his career record against the Mets to 19-7.

Weather Report: There had been 31 games canceled because of inclement weather through Friday, four more than last year’s total.

Balk Update: On Tuesday, the 51st day of the season, the pitchers finally got smart. There were no balks called for the first time.

Kurt Stillwell: The Kansas City Royals shortstop by way of Thousand Oaks has hit 5 home runs. Royal shortstops hit only three last year.