BASEBALL MISCELLANY

NAMES AND NUMBERS

* Matchup: April’s best occurs today when the Oakland Athletics’ Dave Stewart (4-0) duels the Boston Red Sox’s Roger Clemens, also 4-0, at Fenway Park. The A’s are the only team against which Clemens has a losing record, 2-6. Stewart has won 18 consecutive decisions in April, a streak he credits to conditioning and off-speed pitches that hitters aren’t prepared to time this early.

* Souvenirs: After hitting the ninth-inning home run that ruined Brian Holman’s bid for a perfect game, Ken Phelps, Oakland’s designated hitter, exchanged autographed balls with the Seattle Mariner pitcher. Phelps wrote “Great game, God Bless” above his signature, but asked Holman to write only his name. “I think he was afraid of what else I might write,” Holman said.

* Fallen Angel: Dan Petry, who returned to the Detroit Tigers to revive a career that seemed on the verge of being over after his release by the Angels, returns to the rotation today, starting against the Milwaukee Brewers as a replacement for Kevin Ritz, who was 0-4 before being optioned to Toledo on Friday. Petry, who was never sure of his role with the Angels, earned the promotion after 8 2/3 scoreless relief innings. While happy to be starting, Petry said: “More than anything, I was adapting to relief. I was proving to myself I could relieve.”

* Tribute: New York Yankee outfielder Mel Hall has stenciled “44” on the back of his spikes in honor of the late Loyola Marymount basketball star, Hank Gathers. Hall said he never met Gathers but admired his athleticism. “He reminded me of me,” Hall told New York writers. “I guess you guys didn’t know I was sentimental.”

* Witt’s End?: While Nolan Ryan rolls on, the “new Nolan Ryan” continues his annual struggle. Bobby Witt is 0-3 with a 6.75 earned-run average, having needed 203 pitches to survive just four innings in each of his last two starts. Said an exasperated Bobby Valentine, the Texas Ranger manager: “Witt keeps saying his mechanics are off or some crazy thing like that. All I can tell you is that I don’t like what I’ve seen and I hope he doesn’t either. It’s tough to look at.”