BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : NAMES AND NUMBERS

* PISTOL PEDRO: Former Dodger Pedro Martinez was involved in yet another brawl Tuesday night, this one involving the Pittsburgh Pirates after Blas Minor hit Larry Walker of the Montreal Expos with a pitch. Martinez had hit Carlos Garcia earlier. Martinez has hit nine batters, and the Expos have been hit 23 times, some in obvious retaliation.

“Martinez has to start acting more like a pitcher and less like a showcase,” Pirate pitching coach Ray Miller said.

The Expos look at the counts and situations and don’t think Martinez is throwing at people intentionally. They have had him throwing to a mannequin between starts to get a better feel for pitching inside.

“I’m not worried about him hitting batters,” Expo pitching coach Joe Kerrigan said. “I’m worried about him finishing them off with two strikes.”

* PACE OF ANOTHER KIND: At 42-21 through Thursday, the Atlanta Braves have not had a better record after 63 games since moving from Milwaukee. However, they are bucking precedent. With Otis Nixon, Ron Gant and Deion Sanders gone, the Braves had only 36 stolen bases, projecting to 91 for the season. Only four clubs since 1969 have had fewer than 90 stolen bases in a season and won a National League pennant.

The Braves also had grounded into 69 double plays, projecting to an NL-record 180.

General Manager John Schuerholz said: “We’re not a speed team. We’re a pitching, defense and situational-hitting team. We’re a lead-the-league-in-home-runs team.”

* UNRETIRED? The National League leader in All-Star voting at second base is the retired Ryne Sandberg, a 10-time All-Star who doesn’t rule out playing in the July 12 game. “I wouldn’t say no right now, but I don’t know if I’d say yes,” he said. “I’m not sure it would be right to take the place of an active player.”

* IN A GROOVE: First baseman Hal Morris of the Cincinnati Reds, after sitting out the first two months of last season because of a separated shoulder, came back to bat .317 and is quietly having a most-productive 1994 season, leading the NL with a .359 average.

In Los Angeles the other day, teammate Kevin Mitchell said: “He reminds me of Keith Hernandez. No matter where it’s pitched, he hits it. When Hal is on, the only way to get him out is to pitch him an invisible ball. Then again, he’d probably hit that too, and the fielders wouldn’t be able to find it.”