Pair of Fours by Blue Jays Trump Angels’ Other Ace

The Angels had a pair of aces lined up against the Toronto Blue Jays, but pitchers Chuck Finley and Ken Hill weren’t exactly two of a kind.

One day after Finley lost to Toronto, Hill was battered for eight runs and five hits in 1 2/3 innings Friday night, as the Blue Jays whipped the Angels, 9-1, in front of 26,644 in the SkyDome.

Toronto right-hander Pat Hentgen had a perfect game through 5 1/3 innings before Norberto Martin and Gary DiSarcina singled in the sixth. The only other hit for the Angels, who have lost eight of their last 11 games, was Garret Anderson’s double off reliever Chris Carpenter in the ninth.

Hill, who walked five and hit a batter, fell to 6-2 and is now 0-4 lifetime against the Blue Jays, the only American League team he has not beaten.

“You come in here with Finley and Hill, and you have to think you’re in pretty good shape,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “But neither one was sharp. Chuck kept us in the game [a 5-4 loss], but he didn’t pitch like he has all year long. And Ken had nothing. I didn’t see any zip on his fastball, and he couldn’t locate anything.”

Collins had one reason to be thankful. Hill, who has been bothered by elbow stiffness and a pinched nerve in his back, had no physical problems Friday, when he gave up four runs in each of the first two innings.

“I’m fine,” Hill said. “I felt good.”

The same could not be said for second baseman Randy Velarde, who returned to Southern California Friday after leaving Thursday night’s game because of severe elbow pain.

An MRI test showed no new damage to Velarde’s reconstructed ligament, but Velarde, who missed all of 1997 and the first six weeks of 1998, still fears his season--and, perhaps, his career--may be over.

He will be put on the 15-day disabled list today, and the Angels will recall second baseman Justin Baughman from triple-A Vancouver. Collins will put Baughman in the starting lineup as soon as he gets to Detroit, either today or Sunday.

The Angels moved Baughman, 23, from shortstop to second this spring, and he also made the jump from Class-A Lake Elsinore to Vancouver. The fastest runner in the Angel organization, Baughman is batting .318 with 10 RBIs and 15 stolen bases and has committed two errors in 31 games.

“He’s handled [the switch to second] well,” Collins said. “This kid has some life to him. He’s aggressive and has great speed. They tell me he’s playing a very good second base, and if there’s one guy who can help make him a good second baseman, it’s [Angel infield coach] Larry Bowa.”

Collins is so impressed with Baughman he may bat him second. “One year in Pittsburgh, we brought a young kid up and hit him second, and he did just fine,” Collins said. “His name was Jay Bell. I like Justin’s speed at the top of the order, and he can break up some of our left-handed hitters.”

There wasn’t much hitting to break up Friday night. The Angels were overwhelmed by Hentgen’s sharp-breaking curve and were out of it by the second inning.

Hill walked three in the first, which included Darrin Fletcher’s two-run single, and two in the second before being relieved by Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who saved the Angel bullpen by going 4 2/3 innings.

“I don’t know if they’re detecting something I’m doing or if they’re getting the signs, but they took some good hacks,” Hill said. “They might have been doing something with my location, but maybe I’m tipping my pitches. I’ll look at the videotape and see if that’s the case.”

The Blue Jays rank last in the league in hitting but are 4-0 against the Angels this season, racking up 33 runs and 51 hits, including seven homers.

“It’s kind of funny,” Hill said. “Everything we’ve thrown up there they’ve hit.”

But the Blue Jays were not humored by Hill’s accusation that they may have been stealing signs or location, a highly sensitive issue that has led to more than a few beanball wars.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Toronto center fielder Shannon Stewart said. “It’s not like we’re cheating, if that’s what he thinks. I’m not doing it, and I don’t want to go up there and get drilled [because he thinks we are]. If he’s tipping his pitches, I haven’t gotten them yet.”