NAMES & NUMBERS

Complaints about the absence of left-handed pitching don’t stand up in the National League this year. Ramon Martinez had 16 victories and was the only right-hander among the NL’s top nine winners.

The left-handed leaders: Tom Glavine and John Smiley, 18 victories; Steve Avery, Bruce Hurst and Charlie Leibrandt, 15; Terry Mulholland, Tom Browning and Zane Smith, 14.

There was a similar story in the American League, where the Angels’ three left-handers, Chuck Finley, Jim Abbott and Mark Langston, were among the top six winners.

The auditions Manager Buck Rodgers is conducting as he looks to rebuild the rest of the Angels’ staff are a spinoff of the following statistics: Finley, Abbott and Langston have combined with relief pitchers Bryan Harvey and Mark Eichhorn to compile a 55-29 record with 40 saves and a 2.88 earned-run average. The other Angel pitchers are 17-42 with three saves and a 4.69 ERA.

One reason the Dodgers have not put a second-half stranglehold on the National League West race is the inconsistency of their starting pitching. Kevin Gross, who has made three second-half starts, and Roger McDowell, who was not acquired until July 31, lead the Dodgers in second-half victories with five apiece.

* Pete Schourek’s one-hitter against the Chicago Cubs was the 18th by a New York Met, but the Mets and the San Diego Padres are the only major league teams never to have a no-hitter.

That’s a strange absence in the case of the Mets, considering the consistent quality of their pitching and the fact that Nolan Ryan pitched seven no-hitters for three teams after leaving New York, and Tom Seaver pitched one after joining the Cincinnati Reds.

Despite the continued productivity of Cecil Fielder and Walt Terrell’s 8-1 record since the All-Star break, the Detroit Tigers have been struggling to stay alive in the AL East.

The Tigers have lost 10 of their last 16 and had been shut out four times in their last 14 games after being shut out only three times in their first 127.

“It’s frustrating because you can feel something slip away,” Tony Phillips said of the Tigers’ title hopes. “We’re in a pennant race, what we all wanted, and we’re not winning.”

* Matt Young, 3-6 overall and 0-5 in eight starts since May 20, had the temerity to criticize his defense and his manager after lasting only 3 2/3 innings in the Boston Red Sox’s 8-2 loss to the Tigers Wednesday.

“It’s tough to pitch when the manager has his foot on the top step of the dugout all the time,” Young said of Joe Morgan. “I feel Joe is just waiting to take me out. You can’t pitch when every pitch is expected to be a perfect pitch.”

For $6.35 million, the Red Sox expected better than 3-6, though how much better is uncertain. Young was 8-18 with the Seattle Mariners last year.

Former Dodger Franklin Stubbs, who received a three-year, $6-million contract from the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent, is spending September on the bench. He has a .150 average with runners in scoring position and has driven in only 35 runs. Nine Brewers have driven in more runs, but only Paul Molitor and Robin Yount are being paid more than Stubbs.

The New York Yankees attempted to boost the sagging confidence of Pat Kelly in his bid to adjust to third base by returning him to his prefered position at second base and using Steve Sax as the designated hitter last week. It was only for two games, but it was enough to leave Sax screaming that he isn’t a DH and won’t be a DH.

“If that’s their goal, I ain’t going to be here next year,” he said, although the four-year, $12.4-million extension that he received last winter leaves him with no choice in the matter.

* Tony Gwynn, maintaining that he has been trying to tell people how good the Braves are all year, continued to do so as he left Atlanta with the Padres Thursday night.

“I can’t believe the little things they do and how focused they are,” he said.

“They’re playing with so much confidence. L.A. is going to get all it can handle, because offensively I really like Atlanta.”