BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Basically, Perez Is a Winner

No science. No mathematics. Nothing complicated. The Montreal Expos’ Carlos Perez has reduced pitching to basics. Why study the opposition?

“They have to worry about me; I’m the pitcher,” Perez said Thursday after holding the St. Louis Cardinals to five hits over seven-plus innings and beating them, 6-2, in Montreal. “If I don’t throw the ball, nothing happens.”

Sometimes nothing happens when he throws it. Perez (5-0) dropped his earned-run average to a National League-low 1.54, leaving after giving up a leadoff homer to pinch-hitter Jose Oquendo, his first homer in four years.

It broke a 19-inning shutout streak for Perez.

Pittsburgh 5, Cincinnati 3--Denny Neagle (5-1) ran his winning streak to five games and ended the Reds’ streak at nine as Orlando Merced’s two homers and four RBIs led the Pirates at Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia 5, Chicago 3--Phillie reliever Norm Charlton pitched a scoreless eighth inning in his return to the mound, five days after being hit in the head by a line drive, and Kevin Stocker hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the bottom of the inning in a victory at Philadelphia.

The Phillies set a rather obscure NL record by not losing consecutive games during their first 33 games of the season. The previous record was held by the 1907 Cubs, whose first two-game losing streak was in games 33 and 34.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Texas 6, Minnesota 3--Kenny Rogers pitched six more shutout innings, extending his streak to 39 before it was ended by Marty Cordova’s sacrifice fly in the seventh, as the Rangers won at Arlington, Tex.

Rogers (6-2) got support from successive home runs by Dean Palmer and Ivan Rodriguez in the second inning and two runs on a triple by Juan Gonzalez, who was making his season debut after missing the first 33 games because of a herniated disk.

Cleveland 7, Chicago 4--Eddie Murray, Albert Belle, Jim Thome and Paul Sorrento homered at Cleveland for the Indians, who completed their first four-game sweep of the White Sox since 1976 but confiscated dozens of brooms fans brought to the stadium in anticipation of a celebration.