Dickson Lacking in Several Areas

Manager Terry Collins was in no mood to dissect pitcher Jason Dickson’s performance after Thursday’s 9-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Was location a problem for the rookie right-hander, who gave up eight runs, six earned, on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings? Was it velocity? Was he not mixing his pitches as well as usual?

“Pick something,” Collins said. “Jason was not real good today. He has pitched better. He can pitch better. He will pitch better.”

Dickson was coming off two consecutive strong outings, a 6 1/3-inning scoreless relief effort in a 12-4 victory over the Yankees on Aug. 19 and an eight-inning, one-run effort in a 6-1 win over the Red Sox on Saturday.

But Dickson (13-6) was tagged for three two-out, run-scoring hits in the first two innings Thursday, and his inability to stifle Padre uprisings led to a 5-1 deficit after four innings.

“I didn’t hit all my spots and they took advantage in all those situations,” Dickson said. “But I felt a lot better than the results I put on the board.”

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Rickey Henderson, traded by the Padres to the Angels for three minor leaguers Aug. 13, received the royal treatment in his return to Qualcomm Stadium.

Henderson was honored in a brief pregame ceremony, received a plaque for being baseball’s all-time stolen base leader and was called “the greatest leadoff batter in the history of the game” by the stadium public-address announcer.

He wasn’t in the starting lineup, but Henderson replaced center fielder Jim Edmonds in the seventh inning and got a standing ovation before his eighth-inning at-bat.

“The reaction was great,” Henderson said. “I try to make an impact wherever I go. I play hard, give it my all. . . . I did that for San Diego, and I think people respect that.”

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Allen Watson threw only 66 pitches in Wednesday night’s loss to Cleveland but Collins said he won’t bring him back on three days’ rest to start against San Francisco on Sunday.

“His elbow is a question,” Collins said, alluding to stiffness that has bothered Watson recently. “He needs the extra day of rest.”

Tony Gwynn’s fifth-inning single Thursday gave the Padre right fielder 2,750 hits, moving him into 40th place on the all-time list. . . . Padre catcher John Flaherty’s fifth-inning triple was his second in 1,288 at-bats. He got his other as a Detroit Tiger against the Angels on July 13, 1995.

Angel second baseman Randy Velarde, who expected to sit out the season after elbow surgery in March, will probably be activated when rosters expand next week, but he’ll be used only as a pinch-runner.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TONIGHT’S GAME

ANGELS’ KEN HILL (6-11, 5.56 ERA) vs. PADRES’ PETE SMITH (5-4, 4.78 ERA)

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, 7 p.m.

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KTZN (710).

* Update--First baseman Darin Erstad and third baseman Dave Hollins have been driving forces offensively for the Angels, but they’ve hardly been defensive cornerstones in the last two weeks. Hollins has committed five errors in the last 10 games, and Erstad has committed five in the last 11. “There are slumps in every phase of the game--pitching, hitting and fielding,” Manager Terry Collins said. The Angels have committed six errors in the last four games and have given up 26 runs in their last three. “We haven’t played well for three, four, five days,” Collins said. “We’re better than this, and we know it.” Center fielder Jim Edmonds gave the Angels a scare when he crashed into the center-field wall chasing John Flaherty’s fifth-inning triple but suffered no serious injury.