Angels Aced Out, 5-2

Both the Angels and pitcher Ken Hill were brought to their knees Tuesday night, the Angels by Oakland right-hander Gil Heredia, who threw seven scoreless innings in the Athletics’ 5-2 victory in Edison Field, and Hill by an injury-causing pitch that could jeopardize his season and his Angel career.

Hill, considered the Angels’ ace entering the season, crumbled to his knees in front of the mound after a 2-0 pitch to Miguel Tejada in the third inning, and he remained there with his head buried in the turf as Manager Mike Scioscia, teammates and medical personnel rushed to his aid.

At first, there was a fear Hill might have suffered a catastrophic injury of the Tony Saunders or Dave Dravecky variety, a broken bone or shoulder or elbow blowout. But after a few moments, Hill walked off the field under his own power.

The right-hander was diagnosed with a strained right intercostal muscle, which is located in the upper rib-cage. It’s an injury that is probably more severe than it sounds.

The intercostal muscle is in a very sensitive area, especially for pitchers, and Hill’s injury is one that is very difficult to rehabilitate. Brian Downing played with a similar injury, albeit as a designated hitter, for the final two years of his Angel career and was in constant pain.

“It’s pretty bad,” Scioscia said. “These things take time. There’s probably a wide range of recovery time depending on the severity. It can be two or three weeks or two or three months. I don’t think anyone knows. I’m speculating based on guys I know who had similar things.”

Hill, who will undergo an MRI test today, was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and the Angels recalled reliever Mike Fyhrie from triple-A Edmonton. Scioscia will likely insert Jason Dickson, eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday, into Hill’s rotation spot Sunday.

That means the two veterans the Angels were relying on to lead their young pitching staff this season, Hill and Tim Belcher--who has yet to throw a pitch because of a sore elbow--are on the disabled list. The Angels are also without their shortstop, Gary DiSarcina, who went on the disabled list Monday night.

“We’ve been hit with a couple of tough injuries--Gary DiSarcina and Ken Hill are two big parts of the ballclub,” Scioscia said. “But this is part of baseball. You need a [farm] system to fill the gaps, and fortunately one of our strengths is our rotation depth, which is better than people thought.”

Hill’s ill-fated pitch could be costly to the Angels, who need a healthy and productive Hill to contend in the American League West, and very costly--$6 million, to be precise--to Hill.

Hill, who is making $5.6 million this season, is in the final year of a three-year, $16-million contract but has a $6-million option for 2001 that would become guaranteed if he starts 33 games or throws 190 innings this season.

If he doesn’t reach those numbers--Hill started his eighth game Tuesday and has thrown 37 2/3 innings--the Angels would not be obligated to pay Hill for 2001, and he would become a free agent.

Considering Hill’s age (34), his spotty health record and shoddy 4-11 record and 4.77 earned-run average in 1999, it’s highly doubtful the Angels would retain him in 2001 if they don’t have to.

Though Hill had a decent 3-3 record through seven games this season, he never seemed to find consistent command of all his pitches and struggled with his control. There were only a few innings when he looked comfortable.

He walked 25, struck out 19 and gave up nine home runs. He used a lot of pitches in very few innings, and always seemed to be pitching with runners on base.

It was the same thing Tuesday night, as Hill escaped the first inning with the bases loaded before giving up two runs in the second. He threw 50 pitches in the first two innings and injured his arm on his 67th pitch of the game.

“You could see by his reaction that it was bad,” Scioscia said. “The pitch before, it looked like something wasn’t right. He waved us off and said he was fine. . . . We were relieved that it wasn’t connected to his arm, but this is a very serious injury.”