NAMES & NUMBERS

No American League East team, including the Toronto Blue Jays, has a .500 record since the All-Star break, primarily because the East has been going head-to-head against the West, which had built a season advantage of 247-186 through Friday, led by Minnesota’s 44-20 record.

The Twins, beginning with this weekend’s series against the Athletics in Oakland, are in the process of playing 20 consecutive games against Western rivals, including seven against the Angels, a pivotal stretch before they get another chance to beat up on the East.

Several explanations have been offered for Roger Clemens’ 6-7 record after a 6-0 start, but consider only this: Jeff Reardon, the Boston Red Sox relief ace, has blown six of 30 save opportunities, and three of the six have come while attempting to protect leads for Clemens.

With the acquisition of Jack Howell, the San Diego Padres have used a club-record 43 players this season, including seven third basemen. The turnover at third might have been avoided if former General Manager Jack McKeon and his staff had protected Dave Hollins on the winter roster after the 1989 season rather than expose him to December’s Rule V draft, from which he was selected by Philadelphia.

A switch-hitter with power, Hollins, through Thursday, was batting .429 with five home runs and 13 runs batted in since his recall during the All-Star break.

He was recommended to Phillie General Manager Lee Thomas by a former employee, Tony Siegle, after Siegle was fired as San Diego’s vice president of player personnel the day before the ’89 draft.

Deion Sanders hit a key home run in his final 1991 game with the Atlanta Braves before returning to the Atlanta Falcons, but he was discouraged to leave with a .196 average. “The reason I’m holding onto baseball is because I can be good,” he said. “You just don’t know how much it hurts not to be successful in the little time I had.”

Oil Can Boyd made his first two starts as a Texas Ranger against his former team, the Red Sox. Boyd lost them both, lasting only 2 1/3 innings at Fenway Park on Tuesday.

“It was the worst day of my life,” he said. “It didn’t make me happy. I have too many bad memories for me to be traded and have to make my first two starts against the Boston Red Sox. God must hate me.”

For what it’s worth, former Dodger Shawn Hillegas is the Cleveland Indians’ save leader--with five.

Catcher Matt Nokes of the New York Yankees, regaining the form of his 1987 rookie season with the Detroit Tigers, is having a big season with 20 homers, 58 RBIs and a .280 average through Friday.

“I’m a brand-new player again,” said Nokes, who hit 32 homers as a rookie, then tailed off to 16 in 1988 and nine in 1989 before being traded on June 4, 1990, and receiving the help he needed from Yankee bullpen coach Marc Hill.

“I got overconfident after my rookie year,” Nokes said. “My catching got out of sync, and that affected my hitting. I feel I have it all together again now,”