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.”

On Monday, Hill survived a shaky first inning and was never exactly in a groove.

But the Angels’ reversal of fortune included a reversal by the umpires, they scored three times as many runs in the fourth inning as they had in the last 21 and hung 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.

The Angels had only 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 flyouts to pick up his third save and help boost Hill’s record to 3-1.

The Angels fell behind in a hurry for the third time in as many games. Roberto Alomar led off the game with a walk and B.J. Surhoff drove an apparent two-run homer over the scoreboard in right that was snagged by a fan with a glove.

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

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

Tim Salmon got the second of a club record-tying four walks, three of which were issued by Baltimore starter Doug Drabek. All four times, Oriole pitchers got what they wanted next: an out by the struggling Cecil Fielder, who’s looking more like a washed-up hitter than a cleanup hitter these days at .172.

This time, however, 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, 420 feet away. He accounted for the Angels’ fourth run but didn’t get an RBI when he grounded into a double play to score Garret Anderson, who had tripled into the right-field corner leading off the sixth.

Frank Robinson, who is working with the commissioner’s office in an effort to speed up the game, was in the press box and probably figured he was about to get a good look at a really long one in the first inning.

“[Hill] looks like he’s pitching batting practice,” he said. “There’s no velocity. This isn’t the Ken Hill I know.”

But Hill started hitting his spots, the Orioles weren’t hitting his pitches and he gave up only one hit in the next three innings.

Baltimore opened the fifth with back-to-back singles, but Hill got Mike Bordick, Alomar and Surhoff to ground out and escaped unscathed.

The Orioles finally chased him 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.

Collins brought in left-hander Mike Holtz, who gave up a run-scoring double down the left-field line to Surhoff before getting Baines to fly to center. Rich DeLucia gave up only a walk in the eighth and then Percival came on to close out the Angels’ second victory in six games.