Angels Stuck in Hole on Hill

Was it all a big tease? Is that all Ken Hill’s virtuoso performance, when he came off the disabled list and gave up one run in six sharp innings of last Wednesday’s win over Seattle, will turn out to be?

If it is, the Angels could be in as much trouble this summer as they were Monday night, when Hill’s 1 2/3-inning meltdown left them in a five-run hole, one they could not crawl out of in an 8-6 loss to the Mariners before 20,919 in Edison Field.

The Angels showed some spunk, rallying for four runs in the sixth to cut Seattle’s lead to one, but Mariner first baseman John Olerud saved two runs with a spectacular back-hand diving grab of Adam Kennedy’s grounder down the line with two on in the eighth, preserving Seattle’s lead.

Mariner relievers Arthur Rhodes, Jose Mesa and Kazuhiro Sasaki combined to hold the Angels scoreless over the final three innings, with Sasaki surviving a scare in the ninth, as Seattle dropped the Angels seven games back in the American League West.

Mo Vaughn singled and Tim Salmon walked to open the ninth, but Sasaki got Garret Anderson, who homered twice Monday night, to fly to right, struck out Troy Glaus on three pitches and retired Bengie Molina on a fly out for his 17th save.

Hill, who sat out seven weeks because of a strained rib-cage muscle, gave up four hits and walked five. He said his problems Monday were not physical, even though he hunched over, with his hands on his knees, for several moments after walking Jay Buhner in the first.

“I wasn’t hurt, I was just trying to gather myself,” Hill said. “I didn’t feel good tonight. My body was tight. I kept trying to find my rhythm, which I couldn’t do. I even went down in the tunnel after the first inning and threw against the screen, trying to feel it. It just didn’t happen.”

Little good has been happening for the three starters the Angels will be relying heavily on this season.

Kent Bottenfield, whom the Angels once fancied as their ace, has been knocked around for 30 runs in 31 innings of his last six starts and leads the team in home runs allowed (18) and walks (43).

Tim Belcher, the veteran right-hander who was expected to provide a big lift to the rotation once he returned from elbow surgery, has thrown a combined 1 2/3 innings in his last two starts, with one game cut short by his ejection and the other by Oakland’s seven-run pounding Sunday night.

Hill fueled much optimism last week when the oft-injured right-hander shut down the Mariners in a 3-2 victory. His fastball hit 95 mph in the sixth inning of that game, and he had excellent command of his slider and split-finger fastball throughout.

But he had neither power nor precision in his second start back. Hill walked three in the first inning, giving up runs on Edgar Martinez’s single and Olerud’s sacrifice fly.

Hill gave up a single and walked two more to load the bases in the second before giving up Olerud’s bases-clearing, three-run double on his 65th pitch, and with that Hill headed for the dugout as Al Levine came in from the bullpen.

Hill, Bottenfield and Belcher, who have a combined salary of $14.2 million, have combined to go 10-14 with a 6.50 earned-run average in 29 starts this season. And the Angels expect to contend for the division title with this kind of pitching?

Only if they have more outbursts like they did in the bottom of the sixth Monday night. Trailing, 7-2, Tim Salmon sparked the rally with a one-out double, and Anderson followed with an RBI double to left-center, improving his career average against Moyer to .470 with three homers.

Troy Glaus snapped an 0-for-20 slump by blooping an RBI single into shallow right, and Bengie Molina ripped Moyer’s next pitch over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer, cutting Seattle’s lead to 7-6.

Seattle showed its offensive versatility while tacking on an insurance run in the seventh.

Bell opened the inning with a single and took second on Joe Oliver’s sacrifice bunt. Mark McLemore grounded to first, but Rickey Henderson doubled to right--his 2,847th career hit--for a run and an 8-6 lead.