For His First Start in 2 1/2 Months, Hill Will Take Six-Inning Victory

This was not vintage Ken Hill. The Angel right-hander did not display the precision and command of all his pitches Friday night that he showed last September, when he went 2-1 with a 1.43 earned-run average, or this past April, when he opened the season with 14 shutout innings.

Hill, in his return from June 15 elbow surgery, gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings Friday night, walking three and striking out two, but though his line wasn’t stunning, Manager Terry Collins thought the bottom line--a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox--was.

“Ken was outstanding,” Collins said. “He gave us exactly what we had to have, six quality innings. That was enough for his first time out.”

The Angels have been waiting two months for this. The Texas Rangers added two pitchers, Todd Stottlemyre and Esteban Loaiza, before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline, but Collins figured if Hill and Jack McDowell could come back strong, the Angels could counter those moves.

McDowell returned and won his first two games, and Hill showed Friday night that he is certainly capable of boosting the rotation.

“No question, I was satisfied with how I pitched,” Hill said. “Even though I gave up three runs, I felt good. I was locating my pitches, and I put the team in position to win. The biggest thing was just being out there again, knowing I can get big league hitters out and deal with different situations.”

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Boston starter Steve Avery breezed through four scoreless innings Friday night, giving up two singles and striking out four, but the left-hander suddenly turned into John Stockton in the fifth, firing bounce pass after bounce pass toward the plate.

The Angels scored their first two runs in the five-run fifth while hitting only one ball out of the infield, as Troy Glaus singled to center with one out, Phil Nevin reached on an infield hit and Jim Edmonds walked to load the bases.

Avery, unable to keep his breaking ball out of the dirt, walked Randy Velarde and Darin Erstad, the latter on four pitches, trimming Boston’s lead to 3-2.

Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams pulled Avery for right-hander Derek Lowe, who gave up an RBI single to Tim Salmon, whose tapper traveled about 15 feet between the mound and third base, and Todd Greene’s two-run single to center, which gave the Angels a 5-3 lead.

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The Angels optioned pitcher Steve Sparks to double-A Midland to make room for Hill, but the move was hardly a demotion. The knuckleballer will be recalled when rosters expand Tuesday and will start against the Indians on Wednesday night.

And even though Sparks won’t be among the 25 names the Angels submit to the league for their postseason eligibility roster Monday, he’ll be available should the Angels make the playoffs.

Those who are on the 25-man roster or disabled list on Aug. 31 are eligible for the postseason. Because of a rule that allows teams to replace an injured player with any player who was with the organization on Aug. 31, General Manager Bill Bavasi will submit at least seven players who are currently on the disabled list on Monday’s postseason eligibility list.

That will allow Collins to pick his playoff roster from a pool of 32 players instead of 25.

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The Angels retired Nomar Garciaparra on a 5-3-1-3 groundout in the eighth inning Friday night.

Glaus grabbed Garciaparra’s one-hop smash and threw high and wide to first. Garciaparra, in an effort to avoid first baseman Erstad, veered toward the inside of the base and tried to swipe the bag with his foot. Erstad, thinking Garciaparra was safe, threw the ball back to pitcher Allen Watson, but umpire Ray DiMuro still hadn’t given an out or safe call.

Watson alertly threw back to Erstad, who tagged Garciaparra before he returned to first. DiMuro ruled Garciaparra out, claiming he never touched the bag.

Today

ANGELS’ JACK McDOWELL (3-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. RED SOX’S PEDRO MARTINEZ (17-4, 2.73 ERA)

Fenway Park, 2 p.m. PDT

Radio--KRLA 91110) XPRS (1090).

* Update--With relievers Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Rich DeLucia and Mike Fetters fatigued from working so much this past week, Collins moved Omar Olivares from the rotation to the bullpen for the weekend series against the Red Sox. Olivares was scheduled to start Sunday, but he will be replaced by Jeff Juden, who will pitch on three days’ rest. Martinez leads the league in earned-run average, ranks second in wins and third in strikeouts with 200, and opponents are hitting .216 against him.