Hill Impresses Himself

Ken Hill has downplayed the significance of spring training all month--”It doesn’t mean anything,” the Angel pitcher has said after every Cactus League start--but he finally relented after another strong outing Wednesday.

“OK, it means something,” said Hill, who threw six shutout innings in the Angels’ 9-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Tucson Electric Park. “I’d rather be on my game going into the season. That way I have no excuses. I feel pretty good. If we opened the season next week, I’d be fine.”

Hill has been the Angels’ best pitcher this spring. The right-hander gave up three singles, struck out one and walked one, using a sinking, four-seem fastball to induce 14 ground-ball outs in the 2-hour, 22-minute game.

Hill has given up five earned runs in 20 innings for a 2.25 ERA. He gave up 10 earned runs in 52 innings over his last seven starts last season.

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After striking out three times against Seattle left-hander Jamie Moyer on Tuesday, Darin Erstad hit two homers Wednesday, a three-run shot in the second and a two-run blast in the fourth, off left-hander Brian Anderson, the former Angel. Phil Nevin had two doubles.