NAMES & NUMBERS

Ugly Inning of the Week was the first at St. Louis Wednesday night, when the Cardinals scored five runs on one hit and had only two official at-bats against the Philadelphia Phillies’ Pat Combs and Bruce Ruffin.

Combs walked the first three batters, gave up a sacrifice fly to Pedro Guerrero and walked two more. Ruffin came in and gave up a sacrifice fly to Tom Pagnozzi before walking Jose Oquendo intentionally.

Pitcher Bryn Smith, the ninth batter, became the first with an official at-bat when he hit a two-run single. Rex Hudler struck out to end it, and Combs later went on the disabled list with an inflamed elbow and an inflated earned-run average of 4.90.

St. Louis Manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Joe Coleman, both coming off affiliations with the Angels as broadcaster and assistant pitching coach, respectively, will attempt to rebuild the careers of former Angels Bob McClure and Willie Fraser. The Cardinals signed McClure after his recent release by the Angels and claimed Fraser when he was waived by the Toronto Blue Jays.

* Will Clark of the San Francisco Giants said the obvious after the Dodgers’ Orel Hershiser made the poorest of his six starts Tuesday, the question being, is what Clark saw a one-time thing or the way it is going to be?

“That was Hershiser on the mound, but that wasn’t him throwing,� Clark said. “The way he carries himself on the mound was the same old Hershiser, but it wasn’t the same old fastball.�

After Detroit’s Mickey Tettleton hit two home runs over the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium in a five-game span, Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson said Tettleton has the type of swing that could produce nine or 10 more such blasts in the next five years.

“I’d like to be here five years,� said Tettleton, who was acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles and is eligible for free agency when the season ends.

The Cincinnati Reds had won 15 of their last 22 entering a weekend series against the Houston Astros, a span coinciding with the return of batting-order leaders Barry Larkin and Bill Doran from the disabled list. Larkin hit .354 with 17 runs batted in during that stretch; Doran hit .390, and the Reds vaulted from last in the league in team batting to fifth.

The injury-riddled Oakland Athletics, after using only 25 pitchers while leading the American League in ERA for the last three years, have used 19 pitchers this year and are having trouble getting Dave Stewart on track.

Stewart, 5-4 through 15 starts, yielded seven runs twice and six runs five times, including each of his previous four starts before a 6-3 victory over Kansas City Saturday. His performance--scouts say his velocity is down, his location off--is particularly frustrating because the A’s have scored six or more runs in nine of his 14 starts, with little to show for it.

* Greg Swindell, who hoped that he would be the pitcher the Cleveland Indians traded to the Toronto Blue Jays rather than Tom Candiotti, said:

“Seeing what happened to Candy reinforces the feeling that nobody is secure around here. It’s a good deal for Toronto, and now that they have Candy, you’d think Boston would go out and get another pitcher. I don’t know if it’ll be me, but they need somebody.�