Good News Starts With Fielder, Hill

Finding silver linings didn’t strain Angel Manager Terry Collins’ imagination too much, nor did any of his players strain anything else Sunday.

It may not have been a defining moment, but there were enough bright spots from a 4-2 victory over Detroit Tigers as the Angels prepared for a seven-game trip feeling a little better--and ailing a little less.

“You hope things are getting sorted out,” Collins said. “We just have to take this week coming up. We got lot games to pay. We can’t get down.”

There was no sulking Sunday, when, for once, the good news outweighed the bad.

Pitcher Ken Hill wasn’t 100%. His elbow was a little stiff and the numbness in his right leg thigh was there when the day began. But the 20,354 at Edison Field saw him gut out 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, for his sixth victory.

Clutch hits were still at a premium, but the guy the Angels brought to do that sort of work came through again. Cecil Fielder ripped a two-run double into the left-field corner in the fifth for a 3-0 lead.

The bullpen had been given away games like they were free samples. But Mike Holtz and Troy Percival shut out the Tigers the final 2 1/3 innings.

It was a big way to end a 4-5 home stand, and the news got even better: Second baseman Randy Velarde, out more than a year with an elbow injury, flew with the Angels to Chicago and could be in the lineup as soon as Tuesday.

“Things may be looking up for us,” said outfielder Jim Edmonds, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games and broke a scoreless tie with a run-scoring single in the fifth.

“But you never know what the next day will bring. That’s why we can’t worry about anything beyond today.”

It was enough to look back on Sunday, and take the good over the bad.

Hill, who has had to leave games with elbow stiffness this season, had another problem to deal with this week, as nerve irritation caused numbness in his right thigh.

An MRI and X-rays Friday revealed no major problems. That was enough for Hill.

“I still felt a little numb before the game,” he said. “But this is no time to be sitting out games.”

Hill struck out seven and walked only two. He allowed a Damion Easley’s run-scoring single in the sixth and Frank Catalanotto’s bases-empty home run in the seventh.

It left Hill tied for the American League lead in victories with six. The last four he has had to overcome health problems.

“I had to battle through some things this year, it just makes it a lot sweeter when I pitch and we win,” Hill said.

The latter was again because of Fielder, who has driven in 16 runs in the last 14 games. He followed Edmonds’ two-out single by ripping a Tim Worrell pitch past third baseman Joe Randa in the fifth, scoring Darin Erstad and Edmonds.

It helped make up for another black-hole performance from an Angel second basemen, this time by Carlos Garcia. He struck out in the second, leaving runners on second and third. He struck out again in the fourth, leaving runners on first and second.

“We’ve left a lot runners in scoring position this homestand,” Collins said. “That’s why Cecil’s hit really picked us up.”

The bigger lift came later, as the bullpen got back to its job of saving games. Holtz went 1 1/3, allowing only one baserunner. Percival finished up for his 10th save, striking out two in the ninth.

“That was the best I felt in two weeks,” Percival said.

The rest of the Angels could say likewise, especially after watching Tim Salmon limp through his second game back from the disabled list and hearing that Velarde was apparently waiting in the wings.

“The coaches and I have talked many times about how nice it would be to put the team we felt we had in January on the field,” Collins said. “I would like to try that for a month.”