With the Los Angeles Dodgers sticking to their same playoff starting rotation from the first round, Rich Hill gets another opportunity to face the Chicago Cubs at home in the National League Championship Series.
Hill, who began his career with the Cubs, faced his former club in Game 3 of the 2016 NLCS. In that start he tossed six scoreless innings and punched out six batters — propelling the Dodgers to a 2-1 lead in the series.
Even with the recent experience, Hill is approaching his upcoming matchup with a fresh slate. “I can’t really compare years,” he conceded. “You can’t try to compare yourself to any game that you had.
“Because as I’ve gotten older and realize through experience, I realize every single opportunity is different. No matter if it’s against a similar team, it’s still a different circumstance, a different year, a different day, whatever it might be.”
An extension of that was not putting much stock in how Clayton Kershaw fared in Game 1, despite the fact Hill is facing much of the same batters just one night later. “My approach isn’t going to change as it has been all year,” Hill said. “It’s just attack and continue to throw strikes. Make them swing the bat.
“I will be watching and paying attention, obviously, pretty closely [Saturday]. But, again, it’s not going to really change my approach as far as pitch sequencing or how I’m going to attack these hitters because I’m pretty plain and simple: Here it is, hit it.”
In Hill’s lone start of the postseason thus far, he allowed six baserunners and two earned runs in four innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Hill squares off against fellow left-hander Jon Lester, who threw 55 pitches in relief against the Washington Nationals last Wednesday in Game 4 of the NL Division Series.
“It’s great [getting the start in Game 2]. Anytime you get the opportunity to play and compete against the best, I think it’s something that everybody who is a competitor wants to do,” Hill said.
“You want to challenge yourself against the best, and they’re the defending champions, and that’s the club that we wanted to play and the team that we want to beat to get to the next step, which is the World Series.”
