Hathaway Impressive in 1st Start for Angels : Baseball: Gaetti gets a season-high four hits in 4-2 victory over Rangers.

After a creditable performance Saturday in his first major league start, Angel rookie Hilly Hathaway decided he belongs in the big leagues. After a four-hit performance against the Rangers, Gary Gaetti--struggling through the worst season of his 11-year career--hopes he sent out the same message.

Gaetti had two singles and two doubles to match his season high for hits in a game, and Hathaway pitched gamely through 4 2/3 innings as the Angels held off the Rangers, 4-2, in front of 29,770 at Anaheim Stadium.

Although Hathaway, who gave up five hits, with one walk and one strikeout, needed help in the fifth from Scott Lewis--who in turn needed Steve Frey to strike out Jose Canseco with the tying run on third in the seventh--Angel Manager Buck Rodgers was pleased.

“His fastball was better than I thought it would be, because he’s basically a curveball pitcher,” Rodgers said. “He did well. His delivery was starting to fall apart, and I just assumed he was starting to run out of gas, so I thought it best to get him out of there.”

Another good sign, according to Rodgers, was that Gaetti twice went to the opposite field for hits. Gaetti doubled into the right-field corner and scored in the first against Dan Smith (0-3), and he singled to right in the seventh against Todd Burns.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen him get two hits to the right side of the infield since I’ve been here,” Rodgers said. “We all have to make adjustments in this game, and Gary may have to make that one.”

Gaetti, who raised his batting average from .217 to .223, said he wasn’t consciously trying to go to the right side. But he wasn’t about to argue with the results.

“It’s like when you go golfing and you shoot 150 but you hit that last shot real good,” he said. “You think, ‘That’ll bring me back tomorrow.’ ”

After Luis Sojo’s bloop single scored Gaetti and Mike Fitzgerald hit a two-run home run to right-center in the second inning, the Rangers scored in the fourth and fifth against Hathaway. Rafael Palmeiro’s 22nd homer made it 3-1, and Jeff Frye’s suicide squeeze closed the Angels’ lead to 3-2. When Hathaway faltered, Lewis (4-0) ended the fifth by getting AL home run leader Juan Gonzalez to line to short with the bases loaded.

“I know I can pitch at this level. It’s a matter of adjusting,” said Hathaway, who gave up three runs in one relief inning in his only other appearance Sept. 8. “I’m glad I got this one under my belt. Maybe the next one will be easier.”