BASEBALL MISCELLANY

NAMES AND NUMBERS

* Weary Leary: Former Dodger Tim Leary, like recently fired New York Yankee manager Bucky Dent, has learned that it is difficult to win with these Bronx Bummers. Leary is 3-8 despite an earned-run average of 2.86. The Yankees have scored 10 runs in his eight defeats and 35 in his 12 starts, 12 of those in one game. Leary is so tired of it that he refused to talk to reporters after this week’s 4-1 loss to Roger Clemens and the Boston Red Sox.

* Roger’s Roll: Clemens’ 11-2 start is his best since the 14-0 of 1986. He is 7-1 in starts that followed Boston defeats this season and has a career mark of 63-16 in that category.

* Holy Cow! What’s happened to the rotation that helped propel the Chicago Cubs to the National League’s Eastern Division title last year? Well, Rick Sutcliffe remains on the disabled list, Scott Sanderson is pitching for the Oakland Athletics and Greg Maddux and Mike Bielecki were a combined 7-11 with a 4.58 ERA through Thursday. Said Bielecki: “Greg and me are supposed to win. . . . The way we’ve been pitching, everyone is thinking, ‘Who’s going out there, Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?’ ”

* Carter Comeback: The New York Mets figured that Gary Carter’s knees and bat were finished, but the veteran catcher has been an architect of the San Francisco Giants’ 12-1 June boom. Through Thursday, Carter was batting .474 in a five-game hitting streak, .375 over his last 18 games and had a .281 season average.

* Homer (Un)Happy: The San Diego Padres had given up 72 homers in their 58 games through Thursday and had yet to play two straight games this season without yielding at least one. That pace projects to more than 200, which would break the National League record of 192, set by the New York Mets at the Polo Grounds in 1962.

* Bogged Down: With one hit in his last 17 at-bats through Thursday and hitless in his last 13, Boston’s Wade Boggs displayed a batting average of .276, 76 points below his career mark. Boggs said: “I’m swinging better than I have in nine years. I’m hitting the ball hard, but right at people. What more can I do?”

* Kingdoom: That’s what it has been for the Seattle Mariners, who were 13-19 at home through Thursday, compared to 17-14 on the road. “I’m puzzled, I’m frustrated, I don’t know how to explain it,” Manager Jim Lefebvre said. “The real killer is that we’ve gotten great support from the fans.”