How About a Couple of Hits From These Stars?

They’re among the top names when it comes to hitting--Jim Thome, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Sweeney and others--yet there they are, right near the bottom of this year’s batting lists.

Tim Salmon, B.J. Surhoff, Scott Rolen, Cal Ripken and the rest of them, all hitting under .200 going into the weekend.

Steve Finley was stuck even lower, down at .093 after struggling through an 0-for-30 slump. A horrible stretch for a player who averaged 35 homers and 100 RBIs the last two seasons.

“He needs a hit, no matter what it is,” Arizona batting coach Dwayne Murphy said.

Thome was hitting just .133 with four RBIs. He’d struck out 17 times in 45 at-bats and drawn only four walks.

The high strikes that umpires are calling might be troubling Thome, Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel said.

“He loves to chase high pitches away. So in that respect, the new strike zone might be bothering him. It’s something he has to get used to,” he said.

Thome got a day off late in the week.

“It’s time to let Jimmy sit and think about his hitting,” Manuel said. “When we get home, I might use him some at DH. That way, he can hit in the cage between at-bats. Sometimes that helps him.”

Ripken, held to 25 at-bats in spring training because of a cracked rib, began the weekend at .140 for Baltimore.

“You’re trying to make everything up in a short period of time, and the way you correct your problems, whether it’s pitching or hitting, is between the white lines,” he said.

Sweeney, who hit .333 with 29 home runs and 144 RBIs for Kansas City last season, was down at .169. Alfonzo, a .300 hitter in three of the last four years for the Mets, was struggling at .111.

Ken Griffey Jr. was at 0-for-8 this season, slowed by an injured hamstring. Mark McGwire was at 2-for-21 (.095) before going on the disabled list because of a bum right knee.

“I hope we get him back before the end of the first half,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.

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NOW PITCHING ... UH, PINCH-RUNNING: Bob Boone, often accused of over-managing when he was in Kansas City, made an unusual move this week in Cincinnati.

The Reds’ manager wound up using two pitchers to run for Ken Griffey Jr. in the ninth inning of a 7-4 loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday.

The strange strategy started after Griffey was hit by a pitch from Curtis Leskanic. Griffey can’t run because of a partially torn hamstring, so Boone sent in rookie pitcher Chris Reitsma to take his place at first, saving his position players for possible use later.

So far, so good.

When Dmitri Young drew a walk, Reitsma jogged to second. Then Reitsma turned and saw pitcher Jim Brower coming in to relieve him.

Huh?

“I didn’t want Reitsma crashing in there. I wanted to keep my job another week,” Boone said, referring to the possibility of the rookie getting hurt. “Plus, Brower wasn’t going to be pitching, and he has a little bit more experience running the bases than Reitsma.”

Brower didn’t get far. Sean Casey, the next batter, grounded out to first to end the game.

The last time a pitcher had pinch-run for a pitcher who was pinch-running came on Sept. 15, 1992. Houston pitcher Rob Mallicoat replaced pitcher Brian Williams, who was pinch-running for catcher Eddie Taubensee in a game against San Francisco.

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WRONG NUMBER: Perhaps the oddest scene in the majors last week was at SkyDome, where Toronto manager Buck Martinez suddenly found himself on the mound with too many pitchers.

When starter Joey Hamilton started to struggle in the sixth inning Thursday night against the Yankees, Pedro Borbon began warming up.

And when Martinez walked out to the mound, Borbon figured he was being called. So the reliever trotted in from the bullpen, reached the rubber and got ready to take the ball.

Only one problem: Martinez hadn’t signaled for a change.

“No one summoned him. Nobody called him. He just came running,” Martinez said.

Embarrassed, Borbon walked to the dugout and watched Hamilton escape the jam.

Borbon returned to the bullpen and later wound up pitching in the Blue Jays’ 6-5 loss in 17 innings.

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SINCE YOU ASKED: Bobby Valentine simply couldn’t resist the temptation.

Earlier this week, the Mets’ manager was asked whether he’d noticed that former nemesis Bobby Bonilla had made his first career pitching appearance, mopping up in St. Louis’ 17-4 loss to Arizona.

Bonilla, who frequently complained Valentine didn’t use him enough when he played for the Mets in 1999, gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Erubiel Durazo. Bonilla worked one inning with his 84 mph fastball, allowing two runs on three hits, a walk and a balk.

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RINGS AND THINGS: Yankees infielder Luis Sojo is among only three current players, joining Paul O’Neill and David Cone, to play on five teams that won the World Series.

Sojo got his first one in 1993 while with Toronto, though he did not appear on the World Series roster, and later earned four more playing for the Yankees.

But in 1995, Sojo lost his Blue Jays’ ring, leaving it inside a suitcase in a rental car. This week, though, Toronto GM Gord Ash told Sojo it would be possible to get a replacement ring.