Angels Wait for Hill to Hit

The job description is hitting, and Glenallen Hill usually does. The Angels’ designated hitter hit 27 home runs last season, 20 the year before, 25 the year before that.

Benji Gil, a shortstop by trade, has hit 23 home runs in his major league career. But he’s hitting 200 percentage points more than Hill today, and there he was ahead of Hill in the Angel lineup Thursday.

And, when the Angels loaded the bases in the 12th inning, there was Scott Spiezio, batting for Hill for the second consecutive game. Spiezio singled home Tim Salmon with the winning run in the Angels’ longest game of the season, a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins before 15,159 at Edison Field.

“Glenallen is obviously struggling,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We wanted to give him the opportunity to hit early on, but the situation at the end was set up perfectly for Spiezio. He did a terrific job for us last year coming off the bench.”

Angel starter Jarrod Washburn, developing into a reliable if not overpowering member of the rotation, took a shutout into the sixth inning and handed a 4-2 lead to the bullpen in the seventh.

Mike Holtz got the final out of the seventh inning, and Scioscia asked Al Levine to pitch the eighth. Although Scioscia has said that Levine and Ben Weber would share setup duty in the absence of the injured Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Weber had not pitched since Sunday, while Levine had appeared in four of the last six games, losing two.

Levine blew the save. Chad Allen, who spent most of last season at triple-A Salt Lake, hit his first major league home run in two years, a two-run shot that tied the score 4-4.

Troy Percival pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Angels. Weber got into the game in the 10th and pitched three scoreless innings for the victory.

Washburn, whose season debut was delayed two weeks as he recovered from strep throat, was 1-3 with a 7.04 earned-run average in his first four starts. Since then, he is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in five starts, pitching into the seventh inning in each one. He struck out eight Thursday, walking none.

The Angels scored three runs in the first inning, two on Troy Glaus’ 14th home run and another on a double by Gil. But Minnesota starter Brad Thomas did not allow another run until the sixth inning, retiring 10 consecutive batters in one stretch.

Hill had a bloop single in his first at-bat when the Angels activated him from the disabled list Tuesday, but he has one hit in 13 at-bats since.

In the ninth inning Wednesday, with the tying runs on base, Scioscia used Spiezio as a pinch-hitter for Hill. In the first inning Thursday, with runners on second and third and one out, Hill popped out to shallow center field. In the sixth inning, with runners on first and second and none out, Hill grounded into a double play.

Hill, who missed five weeks because of rib cage and hamstring injuries, is hitting .136 overall and .071 (1 for 14) with runners in scoring position.

Hill was acquired solely to hit, but batting ahead of him Thursday was Gil, a utility infielder. The Angels used him at first base, his first major league start at that position, to get his bat into the lineup against the left-handed Thomas.

“Hopefully, he can give us a little spark,” Scioscia said.

Gil? The same Benji Gil whose lifetime average is .222?

He’s the one, and he’s learned how to hit left-handers. His career average against lefties is .202, but he hit .301 against them last season, and he’s hitting .364 against them this season.

“We’re certainly going to give him every bit of an opportunity to contribute,” Scioscia said.

Gil had to borrow a first baseman’s glove from Shawn Wooten Thursday, and he called home and asked his family to drop his old outfielder’s glove into the mail.

Gil hasn’t started a major league game in the outfield, but Scioscia hasn’t ruled it out.

Gil would be happy to help. He’ll be fine, he said, because he started a few minor league games in the outfield “and I didn’t make myself look like a fool.”

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