Abbott Earns Career-High 13th Victory : Baseball: He limits the Red Sox to one run and six hits through seven innings. Angels win, 4-1.

Jim Abbott continues to provide memorable moments in a largely forgettable Angel season.

Abbott held the Red Sox to one run and six hits over seven innings Friday night to earn his career-high 13th victory in the Angels’ 4-1 triumph over Boston at Anaheim Stadium.

Abbott (13-8) struck out three and walked three while earning his fourth consecutive victory and sixth in his last seven starts. It made him the most consistent winner on the Angels’ staff of late. He has given up three earned runs or fewer in 20 of his 26 starts this season and on Friday reduced his earned-run average to 3.07, the lowest among the Angels’ starters.

Run-scoring singles by Dave Winfield and Bobby Rose in the first inning overcame an early Boston run, and Wally Joyner added a third-inning home run off left-hander Matt Young (3-4) to make Abbott’s job relatively easy.

The Angels added a run in the eighth on two singles and a groundout as they ended a four-game losing streak before a crowd of 29,698.

Bryan Harvey retired the Red Sox in order in the ninth to earn his 30th save, one short of the single-season club record set in 1985 by Donnie Moore.

The Red Sox, who had won eight of their previous nine games, dropped 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Blue Jays with the loss.

Boston third baseman Wade Boggs, making a run at his sixth AL batting title, was two for four, raising his batting average to .337. He trails Rafael Palmeiro of Texas by one point.

Abbott had difficulty finding his rhythm in the first inning, falling behind virtually every hitter. He gave up three sharply hit singles, and only by turning a double play did the Angels limit Boston to one run.

Boggs led off with a single to left and moved to second when Jody Reed extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single to right. Quintana followed with a bouncer to third, cleanly fielded by Gary Gaetti. He stepped on the bag for the force on Boggs and relayed to first to get Quintana in plenty of time. Reed took second on the play.

Under less pressure but not yet safe, Abbott walked designated hitter Jack Clark. That brought up Mike Greenwell, who hit a single up the middle to score Reed. Abbott’s first two pitches to the next batter, Ellis Burks, were out of the strike zone, prompting pitching coach Marcel Lachemann to visit the mound. His advice must have helped, because Abbott got Burks to line to right and end the inning.

The Angels took advantage of Young’s control problems in the bottom of the inning to score two runs and take the lead.

Luis Polonia walked and took second when Young’s first pitch to Gaetti deflected off the glove of catcher John Marzano and hit the shoulder of home plate umpire John Hirschbeck. The play was ruled a passed ball and time was called while Angel trainer Ned Bergert rushed out of the dugout to aid Hirschbeck, who lay on the ground near home plate. After a few minutes of attention, Hirschbeck was able to continue.

Young and Marzano also had a chat, perhaps to straighten out their signals. Marzano was a late substitute for Tony Pena, who injured his back during batting practice and couldn’t start the game. Pena’s injury was not believed to be serious.

Polonia stole third on Young’s 2-and-0 pitch to Gaetti and held while Gaetti worked out a walk. He had to hold when Joyner lofted a fly to shallow left, but Polonia scored when Winfield hit a chopper to short that Luis Rivera knocked down but couldn’t hold. The RBI was merely the ninth for Winfield since the All-Star break.

Gaetti took second on Winfield’s infield hit. After Dave Parker flied to left, Gaetti scored on Rose’s single to left.

Abbott gave up singles to Boggs and Reed again in the third, and again, a double play saved him. This time, he struck out Quintana before getting Clark to ground to short, where Dick Schofield initiated the double play with a toss to second baseman Rose.

The Angels increased their lead to 3-1 in the third on Joyner’s opposite-field homer. It was the first homer Young had given up to a left-handed hitter in 384 innings, since Houston’s Jose Cruz hit one on April 8, 1987, and marked the second time this season Joyner has hit homers in consecutive games. He homered against the Yankees May 15 and 16 at New York.