Umpires, Hill Turn It Around

The last time Ken Hill pitched, he was out of whack and got whacked.

Too much rest--seven days to be exact, thanks to the 500-pound chunk of Yankee Stadium that fell in the stands--was supposedly to blame. And on the eighth day, the Yankees smacked him around for 10 hits and five runs in four innings.

“Don’t let anyone fool you, these guys live and die with rhythm,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said, “and he didn’t have it.”

Monday night, Hill survived a shaky first inning and the Angels scored three times as many runs in the fourth inning as they had in the last 21, then held on for a 4-3 victory over Baltimore in front of 19,217 at Edison Field.

Phil Nevin--who has caught all four of Hill’s starts and has hit all three of his homers and driven in all seven of his runs in those games--belted a two-run homer and pushed across another run while grounding into a double play.

Hill hung in there for 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and three runs. Mike Holtz got the final out in the seventh and Rich DeLucia pitched a scoreless eighth. The Angels had two save opportunities in the previous 15 games and under-used closer Troy Percival struggled with his control in the ninth, but he got three fly-ball outs to pick up his third save.

“Kenny pitched well, that’s all you can ask for,” Collins said. “He started to tighten up, but he was able to reach back and find that 94 mph fastball when he needed it.”

It apparently wasn’t there in the early innings, though. As a result, the Angels fell behind in a hurry for the third time in as many games. Roberto Alomar led off with a walk and B.J. Surhoff drove an apparent two-run homer over the scoreboard in right.

Replays showed that a fan with a glove was leaning far over the railing and clearly caught the ball below the top of the wall. However, first base umpire Greg Kosc initially signaled a home run. After a discussion with the rest of the umpires, crew chief Larry Barnett ruled it a double and--using the discretion given him by the rules--also allowed Alomar to score.

“I didn’t see it, but all three [of the other] umpires swear they saw the guy reach below the wall,” Baltimore Manager Ray Miller said, “The guy at first didn’t see it, at least he was honest about it. They didn’t have to score the guy from first, but they did that at least. They got the play right, so I can’t argue about it.”

Barnett said it was obvious to him that the fan interfered.

“Alomar was on the move when the ball was hit and he was going to score, so we gave them that run,” Barnett said.

The Angel offense wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring, but in the fourth inning, it was at least timely.

Tim Salmon got the second of a club record-tying four walks, three of which came off Baltimore starter Doug Drabek. All four times, Oriole pitchers got what they wanted: An out by the struggling Cecil Fielder, who’s looking more like a washed-up hitter than a clean-up hitter these days.

This time, Salmon was going on the pitch and Fielder’s grounder to shortstop didn’t produce a double play. One out later, designated hitter Frank Bolick looped a single to right to tie the score, 1-1.

Collins, who managed Drabek in Houston, had advised his hitters to be aggressive and Nevin paid heed, depositing the right-hander’s first delivery into the rock formation in center, about 420 feet away.

Hill started hitting his spots. The Orioles weren’t hitting his pitches and Hill gave up just one hit in the next three innings. Baltimore opened the fifth with consecutive singles, but Hill got Mike Bordick, Alomar and Surhoff to ground out.

The Orioles finally chased Hill in the seventh. Lenny Webster doubled to the gap in left-center, but Hill struck out Jeffrey Hammonds and pinch-hitter Ozzie Guillen before Alomar doubled off the wall in right to reduce the Angel lead to 4-2.

“I got myself into some trouble and if you keep messing with disaster, it will catch up with you,” Hill said. “But I was very glad to back in the regular rotation and my regular routine.”