BASEBALL MISCELLANY

NAMES AND NUMBERS

* Sweet Music: It is difficult to determine which of Frank Viola’s statistics is more impressive: 5-0 record, 0.99 earned-run average, or 40-3 strikeouts-to-walks ratio in 36 2/3 innings. The New York Mets’ left-hander, determined to re-establish his fastball in the wake of last year’s 13-17 record with the Mets and the Minnesota Twins, has revived memories of his 24-7 American League Cy Young Award season in 1988. “It’s going to be tough to match ‘88, but if I can maintain what I’ve started, I’ll give ’88 a run,” he said.

* All in the Family: Texas has already seen enough of the Perez brothers. The Chicago White Sox’s Melido and the New York Yankees’ Pascual have worked 18 2/3 innings against the Rangers this season, giving up two earned runs, striking out 24 and restricting them to an .098 batting average. “There aren’t any more of them, are there?” Texas General Manager Tom Grieve asked after Melido outpitched Nolan Ryan Tuesday night. Yes, there is. Rueben Dario Perez is a 20-year-old Class-A pitcher in the Kansas City Royals’ system.

* One’s Hot, One’s Not: The Cleveland Indians have given Candy Maldonado and Keith Hernandez an opportunity to revive their careers, with mixed results. Candy has been dandy, batting .303 with five home runs and 14 runs batted in entering a weekend series against the Rangers. Hernandez, however, was hitting .200 with just one double, one home run and seven runs batted in, and he said that he will consider retirement if the embarrassment continues through the All-Star break.

* Home Cooked: The San Francisco Giants were 53-28 at Candlestick Park last season and were swept at home only by the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. The Giants took to the road Thursday with a 2-11 home record, having already been swept in four series there. Typical of the turnaround is Scott Garrelts, who was 10-2 with a 1.57 ERA at home last year but is 0-3 with a 5.55 ERA. The Giants, in fact, may be ready to agree with Manager Whitey Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals, who said of Candlestick the other day: “Sitting in the dugout is like sitting in the bottom of a toilet. All that tissue blows in, and no one flushes it.”

* Relief, Indeed: The Baltimore Orioles’ Gregg Olson had pitched 41 consecutive scoreless innings through Friday, including 14 1/3 innings this season. Olson is 3-0 with 16 saves since the streak began last July 31. It encompasses 29 appearances, which is believed to be the longest ever. The 41 innings represent the longest scoreless streak in the American League since Luis Tiant, then with the Indians, pitched 41 in 1968, the same year that Don Drysdale of the Dodgers pitched 58 in a row, Bob Gibson of the Cardinals pitched 47 and Ray Culp of the Boston Red Sox pitched 39.

* Royal Pain: Kansas City’s 6-14 start through Thursday was its worst since 1981, and Manager John Wathan said he is most puzzled by the inconsistency of the pitching. With a staff ERA of 4.58 entering a weekend series against the White Sox and trailing Oakland by 9 1/2 games, Wathan sounded like a man under the gun: “We had high expectations, and I don’t have the answers,” he said. “You’d think if you waited long enough, everything would turn around. Now we don’t have any time to wait.”

* Reed Section: The Red Sox have already employed eight different starting pitchers and 15 pitchers in all, the latest being Jerry Reed, who was signed after his release by the Mariners. The Red Sox can only hope that Reed will be as hot as shortstop Jody Reed, who was bumped from eighth to second in the batting order and went on a 10-game spree through Thursday in which he hit .375, with two homers and 11 RBIs.

* Geography Lesson: Montreal publicist Richard Griffin, playing off the fact that the Expos were scheduled to face Mark Portugal of the Houston Astros Tuesday night, included in his pregame media notes his team’s all-time records against other European locales. Among them: Alex Madrid, 1-1; Paul Moskau, 1-2; Jim York, 1-0, and Al Holland, 1-1.