Hill Takes Turn for Worse

Angel reliever Derrick Turnbow, who did not play in the team’s first 12 games, saw plenty of action Wednesday night, throwing 55 pitches in 3 2/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays.

That’s great for Turnbow, a 22-year-old right-hander who will benefit from every big league experience after being selected by the Angels in the Rule 5 draft last winter.

It was not great for the Angels. Turnbow’s entrance in the bottom of the fourth meant their starter didn’t last long or pitch well, and Ken Hill’s postgame assessment provided confirmation: “That was ugly,” he said.

The Blue Jays bombed Hill for 10 runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings en route to an easy 12-4 victory before 13,572 at SkyDome, and Hill knew why.

“Location,” the Angel right-hander said. “I felt good. This is the best I’ve felt all year, but I wasn’t locating my pitches. Usually when you don’t have your good stuff you need to hit your spots. When I made mistakes, they hit them.”

Jose Cruz led off the Toronto first with a home run, Craig Grebeck and Raul Mondesi hit back-to-back doubles for another run, and Carlos Delgado’s RBI single made it 3-0.

Brad Fullmer’s three-run homer and Tony Batista’s solo shot made it 7-0 in the third, and the Blue Jays tagged Hill for three more runs in the fourth before Turnbow relieved.

Angel second baseman Adam Kennedy’s eight runs batted in Tuesday were the most by a rookie since Fred Lynn had 10 RBIs for Boston against Detroit on June 18, 1975, but it was Grebeck, the Blue Jay second baseman, who had the big night Wednesday, with a double, three singles, a walk and three runs.

Toronto starter David Wells took advantage of the support, limiting the Angels to four runs on eight hits, including Darin Erstad’s three-run homer in the ninth, and striking out 10 for the 38th complete game of his career.

Hill, on the other hand, has not made it out of the fourth inning in his last two starts.

“My arm feels great, and that’s a good sign,” said Hill, who has pitched for years with an arthritic elbow. “It’s just one of those days where I got my [butt] kicked. I have to look at it as one bad start and try to forget about it, which I won’t, because I’ll have four days to think about it.”

Hill’s last two games--he gave up 15 runs on 16 hits in seven innings against the White Sox and Blue Jays--also could give the Angels something to consider.

Tim Belcher is scheduled to make his second rehabilitation start for Class-A Lake Elsinore tonight, and Jarrod Washburn is healthy and pitching at triple-A Edmonton.

Hill is 1-3 with an 8.84 earned run average, while the other four Angel starters--Kent Bottenfield, Jason Dickson, Scott Schoeneweis and Ramon Ortiz--have combined to go 7-2 with a 2.94 ERA. If Hill, who is guaranteed $5.6 million this season, continues to struggle, his rotation spot could be in question.

“But I have a lot of confidence in Ken,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I think he’s going to be all right.”

Scioscia also remains confident in his two primary set-up men, Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Mark Petkovsek, but they don’t look all right. Hasegawa gave up six runs in the ninth inning Tuesday, his ERA soaring to 18.69, and Petkovsek gave up two runs on three hits in the eighth Wednesday, his ERA jumping to 14.14.

“Instead of throwing seven of 10 pitches where I want to, I’m hitting my spots on three of 10 pitches,” Petkovsek said. “The other seven are missing way off the plate or in the [batter’s] sweet spot. I’ve been in ruts like this before, and why they happen, I don’t know. Going this long getting your rear end handed to you is rough.”

About the only bright spot for the Angels on Wednesday was Turnbow, who gave up a two-run single to his first batter, Batista, but allowed only two hits during a scoreless fifth, sixth and seventh.

“This guy has ice water in his veins,” Scioscia said. “Experience-wise, he belongs in double A, but he’s come in here and pitched in the big leagues and done the job. We could have lost this game and gone through five pitchers, but he gave us a chance to save a few guys. That’s a huge contribution.”