Angels’ Nightmare Is a Dream for Hill

On a day when one of their most effective pitchers was infielder Donnie Hill, who had never pitched an inning in the major leagues, the Angels were too shellshocked to laugh and too aware of the absurdity to cry.

Hill, who had pitched in high school and was indulged at Triple-A Tacoma last year when he begged to pitch as a professional, was the last of seven Angel pitchers Sunday and one of two to escape a Milwaukee onslaught that felled the Angels, 20-7, and shattered club records on both sides.

“Donnie made us look bad,” said Mike Fetters, who yielded four hits and a walk to the five batters he faced in the Brewers’ 13-run fifth inning. “He made it look easy. I wish it were that easy.”

Milwaukee’s 20 runs were the most ever given up by the Angels in a game, eclipsing by three a mark that had been reached three times. The Brewers’ fifth inning set records for most runs scored against the Angels in a single inning and most hits in an inning, 10. Milwaukee sent 11 men to bat in the fourth and scored six times to tie the game, 7-7, and sent 18 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, which took 42 minutes to complete.

“Donnie did the job,” said pitching coach Marcel Lachemann, who attributed his other pitchers’ difficulties to poor location of their pitches. “Those other guys were grinding and sweating and couldn’t get anybody out. But the fact is, as much as we got knocked around today, and nobody likes to lose, I’m sure the Brewers would have liked to have some of those 20 runs the last two nights when they couldn’t beat us.”

Hill, who is ambidextrous, began warming up in the sixth inning, alternating right-handed and left-handed tosses before entering the game in the eighth as a righty. He pitched one inning, giving up a walk and striking out Rob Deer. He shared with Willie Fraser (one hit over two innings) the distinction of being unscored upon. All 20 runs were earned, inflating the Angels’ team earned-run average from 3.55 to 3.75.

“Doug (Rader, the Angel manager) asked me if I could go and I said, ‘Yeah,’ ” Hill said. “I just threw a whole bunch of changeups. It’s not that I wasn’t trying to throw a fastball. He (catcher Bill Schroeder) just called for changeups. I got Deer on my four-finger changeup. I didn’t want to throw a fastball and get killed.”

In becoming the first Angel to pitch without previous major-league pitching experience--Willie Smith pitched 15 games in 1964 but had pitched for Detroit in 1963--Hill acquitted himself admirably.

“You know, Donnie couldn’t even throw his best pitch,” Rader said, smiling. “He didn’t expect to pitch, so he had clipped his nails and couldn’t even throw his knuckleball.”

“He did really well--better than me. I couldn’t get anybody out,” said Fetters, who had earned his first major-league victory Saturday. “I was getting the ball up and when that happens, usually I get hit around . . . The timing (of the All-Star break) is perfect for me. I was on top of the world one day and right at the bottom the next.”

The Angels’ only disappointment with Hill was that he only pitched right-handed. “We were expecting him to go left-handed and right-handed so it could be history,” Luis Polonia said. “That would have made ‘This Week in Baseball.’ ”

Left fielder Darryl Hamilton led Milwaukee with six RBIs, including a grand slam in the fifth for his second major league home run. Jim Gantner drove in five and Gary Sheffield three as the Angels hit the All-Star break with a resounding thud and a 41-43 record. “We’ve got two days to recuperate and we’ll need them,” Dante Bichette said.

“They hit everything,” said Schroeder, a former Brewer whose home run to center in the third gave the Angels a 7-0 lead. “They hit bad pitches, they hit good pitches. They hit dinks and ground balls and line drives. I’m tired and I’m going home for two days.”

The Brewers set or tied six club records, including most runs in a game, most runs in an inning, most RBIs in a game, most RBIs in an inning, most hits in an inning and most runs scored (four by B.J. Surhoff).

“I’ve never seen anything like this at this level. Maybe in college you might see something like this,” said shortstop Bill Spiers, who had a single and a double in the fifth as the Brewers went through Greg Minton (1-1), Fetters and Mark Eichhorn. “We’ll never see anything like this again.”

Which would be fine with Rader. “I’ve been in the game for quite some time, and I’ve never been involved with a team that scored 20 runs or had 20 scored against it,” he said. “It’s all firsts. I’ve been in the game for quite some time, so if this is the first time, I’m probably lucky.”

Unwilling to throw a starter into the game and shorthanded through attrition and the absence of Bryan Harvey, Rader had no choice but to use Hill. “He said he was good for five innings,” Rader said. “I thought Donnie Hill and Willie Fraser did a good job, and that about sums it up for our pitchers.”

Starter Bert Blyleven couldn’t hold the 7-0 lead the Angels had built on a two-run single in the first by Wally Joyner--Joyner’s first hit after going 0 for 13 in two games--a two-run home run in the second by Brian Downing and Schroeder’s blast in the third. Milwaukee scored once in the third before chasing Blyleven in the fourth with a two-run home run by Dave Parker and a run-scoring single by Hamilton.

Gantner and Sheffield added to the damage against Scott Bailes (one earned run in one-third of an inning) and tied the game in the fourth against Minton, who allowed three runs in one-third of an inning. Singles by Hamilton and Spiers after a single by Greg Brock and two walks produced two runs and Gantner drove in two more with a double. Sheffield and Robin Yount chimed in before Parker ended the nightmare by popping up to third baseman Jack Howell.

“They were getting good wood on everything,” said Mark Eichhorn, who gave up five runs in one inning. “You’ve just got to go out there and keep battling.”

A dream was fulfilled in the middle of a nightmare Sunday, although a Hall of Fame pitching career probably wasn’t born. Said Hill, “I haven’t given my Cy Young (Award) speech too much thought.”

Angel Notes

Sunday’s game took three hours 34 minutes, for a total of 12 hours and 50 minutes for the three-game series. The 13-run loss was two short of the Angels’ club record, set in a 17-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on May 31, 1978.

Bryan Harvey was given an extra day’s leave Sunday to be with his father, Stan, who suffered a heart attack last week. Stan Harvey has improved from critical condition to guarded in a North Carolina hospital. Harvey is expected to rejoin the Angels after the All-Star break.

Mark Langston will pitch in Seattle for the first time since the Mariners traded him to the Montreal Expos last season. Langston, who led the American League in strikeouts three times while with Seattle, will start the Angels’ makeup game at the Kingdome Wednesday. Kirk McCaskill will pitch Thursday when the Angels open a 10-game homestand, followed by Jim Abbott, Bert Blyleven and Chuck Finley. That represents a return to the season-opening rotation.

ANATOMY OF A BREAKDOWN How the Brewers scored a record 13 runs in the fifth inning Sunday.

* Greg Brock singled to right field. Brock stole second base.

* Rob Deer and B.J. Surhoff walked, loading the bases.

* Mike Fetters replaced Greg Minton. Darryl Hamilton singled to center, Brock scoring.

* Bill Spiers singled to right-center, Deer and Surhoff scoring with Hamilton taking third.

* Spiers stole second. Jim Gantner doubled to left, Hamilton and Spiers scoring.

* Gary Sheffield singled to left, Gantner scoring.

* Robin Yount walked.

* Mark Eichhorn replaced Fetters. Dave Parker struck out.

* Brock singled to center, Sheffield scoring with Yount stopping at second.

* Deer popped out to third.

* Surhoff walked, loading the bases.

* Hamilton homered to right, his first.

* Spiers doubled to right-center.

* Gantner walked.

* Sheffield singled to center, Spiers scoring with Gantner taking third.

* Yount singled off second baseman Johnny Ray’s glove, Gantner scoring with Sheffield stopping at second.

* Parker fouled to third.

* Totals: 13 runs, 10 hits, two left.