Angels End Trip With 7-2 Victory in Boston

BOSTON —  Winging their way home Thursday night, the Angels had to feel good about what was behind them.

True, a harsh landing may await, as a decision will be made today about injured right fielder Tim Salmon going on the disabled list. But they could block it out for a time with some happy thoughts.

A seven-day road trip, in which they won six of seven games, ended in style, with a 7-2 over the red-hot Boston Red Sox in front of 21,526 in Fenway Park.

Cecil Fielder continued to hit his stride, not to mention baseballs. Dave Hollins missing presence reappeared. Pitcher Ken Hill ignored the stiffness in his elbow for seven innings. Damon Mashore, the man who has mostly filled in for Salmon, had another big hit.

Makes for little turbulence on a coast-to-coast flight.

“This is the best road trip I have ever been on,” said Hollins, who had a home run and triple. “To go 6-1 on the other coast, and to do it without your horse, is a great trip.”

Home is where the heart of the Angel lineup is, and has been for the last week. Salmon has been nursing a strained ligament in his left foot. He took batting practice Thursday, but it’s becoming more and more likely that he will be placed on the disabled list, as soon as today.

“Tim will be at the office [today] and we’re going to have to make a move,” Manager Terry Collins said. “He’s either going to be in the lineup or we’re going to have to disable him.”

Salmon’s foot has responded some to treatment, which included two cortisone shots, but has run little in the last week. The Angels need another pitcher, as Jack McDowell (inflamed elbow) went on the disabled list Thursday. They can no longer afford to play a man down, even if they did maul the Red Sox, who had won 15 of 17.

That included a victory over the Angels on Wednesday. The payback came in bunches.

Fielder, Hollins and Darin Erstad hit home runs. Jim Edmonds made a key defensive play. Matt Walbeck had a run-scoring single. He also twisted his body around a tag at home plate to score on a double by Mashore--a little known outfielder, who is hitting .445 with four runs batted in since Salmon was injured.

“We take Tim for granted sometimes, that he’s always going to be hitting fourth and driving in runs,” Gary DiSarcina said. “We all needed to respond. We had to take advantage of every opportunity.”

Fielder has gobbled up his chances recently. He had started slowly this season, as he does every season, but has shown he is still dangerous. His bases-empty home run gave the Angels a 1-0 lead in the second inning and gave him 11 RBIs in the last eight games.

“There’s a lot on his back,” Collins said. “It’s a big back. We can ride it for a while.”

Fielder didn’t go it alone. Hollins, whose season-long slump left a hole in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, was dropped to fifth Thursday. He responded with a run-scoring triple and then scored on Walbeck’s single in a three-run sixth that gave the Angels a 5-1 lead.

Hollins, who is hitting .215, followed Fielder’s eighth-inning single off the Green Monster in left with a home run over it.

“Dave Hollins is a big part of our lineup,” Collins said. “To get him going right now would really, really make a big difference in our lineup.

“We swung bats tonight. But the biggest thing is, Kenny Hill shut down one of the hottest teams in baseball. To stop them, the way they are playing, that’s a pretty impressive job.”

Hill went 7 1/3 innings, scattering eight hits, for his fifth victory. He left in the eighth when his right elbow stiffened, as it has done in three previous starts--all victories that he has pitched into the seventh.

Edmonds got Hill out of one jam. He ranged to his right to field Reggie Jefferson’s two-on, two-out single, spun around and threw out Mo Vaughn at third. The Angels were out of the inning with a 2-1 lead. Troy O’Leary led off the next inning with a double.

It’s the type of karma the Angels have had since they left Salmon behind.

“You know, we were without a guy who already had hit seven home runs,” Fielder said. “Everyone picked it up. It was a hell of a trip.”

*

* ANGELS REPORT: McDowell put on disabled list. C4