Hill’s Right Elbow Gives Angels Another Pain

Angel right-hander Ken Hill was all over the place Wednesday night, his pitches finding everything but the strike zone. He fell behind nine of the 11 batters he faced in the first two innings, he walked two and gave up three runs on three hits.

But it was hard to know if something was wrong with Hill because this is how he has pitched all season--so erratically he leads the American League with 53 walks in 87 innings and has won only three games, hardly the kind of production you’d expect from a pitcher making $5.5 million.

This time, though, something was wrong. The right elbow that required surgery and sidelined Hill for 2 1/2 months last season felt tight, and Hill was pulled after two innings of a 8-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners before 25,087 in the Kingdome.

The Angels did not issue a prognosis during the game, but knowing Hill’s history--he has been on the disabled list five times--he could be the first Angel starting pitcher, and the 13th Angel player, to go on the DL this season.

Relievers Scott Schoeneweis or Mark Petkovsek could spot start in place of Hill, but neither has the endurance to remain in the rotation for an extended period. The Angels’ next option would likely be right-hander Mike Fyhrie, who is 8-3 with a 3.51 earned-run average in 14 starts for triple-A Edmonton.

Hill’s early departure put a heavy burden on the Angel bullpen, which threw six innings in relief of Steve Sparks after Sparks suffered a bruised right ring finger Tuesday night.

Left-hander Mike Magnante replaced Hill but gave up three runs on five hits in three innings, as the Angels fell 8 1/2 games behind Texas. Seattle left-hander John Halama gave up two runs on six hits in six innings and was spared two runs when Angel runners had to return to third on ground-rule doubles by Matt Walbeck in the fourth and Mo Vaughn in the fifth.

Darin Erstad’s leadoff homer gave the Angels a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Mariners countered with three in the second, the first on Dan Wilson’s bases-loaded single and the second on Angel third baseman Troy Glaus’ brain cramp.

With the bases loaded, Russ Davis grounded a ball to Glaus, who was playing well behind the bag. Glaus, who has played Gold Glove-caliber defense all season, looked home but didn’t throw. He looked to second--no play. By the time he looked to first, all he could do was hold the ball.

Butch Huskey scored on the error, and Brian Hunter capped the rally with an infield single, which scored David Bell. Bell’s two-out, two-run single off Magnante in the third made it 5-1 Seattle, and the Mariners added two in the eighth.

Glaus’ problems weren’t limited to the field. He was 0 for 4 and is now hitless in his last 17 at-bats.

Glaus appeared to snap a horrendous slump, which saw his average nose-dive from .359 on April 29 to .224 on May 30, by going 15 for 35 with four homers from May 31 to June 11. As he did for the first month of the season, Glaus was driving the ball to right field and laying off breaking balls outside the strike zone, and he wasn’t overswinging.

But Glaus has regressed considerably in the past two weeks, going four for 38 with one run batted in in his last 10 games.

“He wants to pull everything, and it’s making him look bad,” said Rod Carew, Angel batting instructor. “I don’t know how much more I can say to Troy. I wish I could put a little bug in his ear, and every time he tries to pull the ball I could scream at him. Or maybe I could hook him up to some electrodes and zap him.”

Carew might have electrocuted Glaus during one at-bat in the fourth inning Wednesday night. With runners on first and second, Glaus swung so hard at a Halama pitch he looked as if he were trying to hit it through the Kingdome roof. At the end of his swing, Glaus’ head was turned so far to the left he could have winked at Manager Lou Piniella in the Mariners’ dugout.

Glaus then struck out for the sixth time in three games.