Home Gets Sweet, 2-0, for Abbott : Baseball: Angel left-hander earns first victory at Anaheim Stadium in nearly one year by holding the Blue Jays to four hits.

The Angels needed a turnaround, and Jim Abbott gave them the change they sought.

It was a sweet respite for pitcher and team alike.

Abbott spent the off-season searching for a changeup to complement his fastball and slider. And he had spent nearly the past year hunting for a victory in Anaheim Stadium.

He finally got one Friday after 12 fruitless starts, pitching a four-hitter for a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the third shutout of his career.

Lance Parrish’s two-run home run in the second inning was all the offensive support Abbott got--and all he needed.

“We didn’t play well for Jim up there tonight, but he pitched a terrific game,” Manager Doug Rader said.

Abbott wasn’t particular.

“We needed to win,” Abbott said. “It was a big game for me, and hopefully for the team. My goal all along has been to contribute to a good team. If this can help, that would be even better.”

Toronto starter Todd Stottlemyre’s one pitch to Parrish was enough to make him a loser before 35,001, despite giving up only four hits. He fell to 9-9.

Abbott (6-7) put a stop--however temporary--to the Angels’ latest slide. They had lost three games in a row and 11 of 15.

Their loss to the Blue Jays Thursday had dropped them 13 games behind the Oakland Athletics in the American League West, their largest deficit of the season.

During the 11 losses spanning three weeks, the Angels had scored two or fewer runs nine times. In their past six games, they had hit only .206.

Two runs were all they offered Abbott on Friday.

He gave up a single to Fred McGriff with one out in the second inning but left him on first by getting a fly out and a strikeout.

Abbott gave up another hit in the fourth inning, when George Bell singled with two out. Abbott took care of that when McGriff grounded to second.

The Blue Jays’ Pat Borders led off the fifth with an infield hit that came when shortstop Dick Schofield’s attempt at a bare-handed throw on a grounder to the middle of the infield failed. No matter. Manny Lee grounded into a double play, and Abbott struck out Mark Whiten to end the inning.

Every time he faltered, Abbott gathered himself. He hit Kenny Williams with a pitch with one out in the sixth, but Tony Fernandez then grounded into a double play.

The last hit Abbott gave up was a one-out single to Bell in the seventh inning. Once again Abbott got a double play to get out of the inning.

Abbott’s key pitch was the changeup.

“He’s been working it in gradually,” Parrish said. “It’s nice to have a pitch like that. It makes his fastball that much faster, and it makes it difficult for hitters to sit on one pitch.”

Abbott’s last moment of uncertainty came in the ninth, when Williams rapped a ball back at him with one out. The ball caromed off the heel of Abbott’s glove onto the grass, and Abbott scrambled after it. He bare-handed it and threw to first. Williams, sliding head first, was out.

Abbott retired Fernandez on a grounder to second for the final out, making himself a winner at Anaheim Stadium for the first time since July 27, 1989.

He had been 0-4 in eight starts at home this season.

Stottlemyre lost because of one pitch, on a 3-and-1 count to Parrish with Dave Winfield on first after a walk. Parrish drove Stottlemyre’s pitch into the screen in right-center field, his 17th home run, equaling his season total of a year ago.

“Everyone in the ballpark knew I was going to throw a fastball,” Stottlemyre said. “I threw it and he hit it out. I don’t think it was in the strike zone, but Lance did what he had to do.”

Parrish is on a pace to challenge his home run numbers of five or more years ago. He hit 28 homers in 1985 with Detroit, and hit his career best, 33, with the Tigers in 1984, a year Detroit won the World Series.

Stottlemyre gave up four hits--the homer to Parrish, a single to Chili Davis in the fourth, a single off his foot to Schofield in the fifth and a single to Donnie Hill in the seventh. He had nothing to show for his efforts. For a change, Abbott did.

Angel Notes

Wally Joyner missed a second consecutive start for the first time this season, and will almost certainly miss a third today. Joyner, bothered by tendinitis of the right knee, took early batting practice but felt pain when he tried to run. As Joyner came off the field, shaking his head that he would not be able to play, his newest substitute spoke up. “I’ve got you covered,” said Donnie Hill, who last Sunday covered for the Angels by pitching an inning in their 20-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

With his debut at first, Hill has played every infield position except catcher this season--and keep an eye on him because he did some catching in high school. He could not recall playing first base since he played the position left-handed as an 11-year-old because of an injury to his right elbow. Hill’s preparation Friday was skimpy; he borrowed a first baseman’s glove belonging to catcher Lance Parrish and took grounders.

Joyner has missed only four games all season, including the past two nights. He said he thinks that the trouble with his knee might be the result of being hit by a pitch by Milwaukee’s Chris Bosio on May 15. Joyner was batting .272 that day, and reached .318, his highest average of the season, May 24. He had a liposuction performed in late May, but the effect of the injury took hold, he said. He left a game in an early June series against Kansas City because of pain. His average is .268, below .270 for the first time since May 15.

Toronto’s Junior Felix was placed on the 21-day disabled list after undergoing surgery to relieve pressure caused by hemorrhaging in his right calf. He started Thursday’s game but left in the second inning because of a strain in the muscle. Felix, the Blue Jays’ leadoff hitter since early June, was batting .283 with 11 home runs, and was hitting .359 with runners in scoring position. . . . Left-handed reliever Bob McClure threw off the mound at “close to top velocity,” Angel trainer Ned Bergert said.