A silver lining in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss to the Colorado Rockies on Friday was a dominant performance by Rich Hill. It was his third start since coming off the 10-day disabled list nearly two weeks ago.
Hill logged six innings, allowing six hits and one run with a season-high 10 strikeouts. He threw 110 pitches to boot, his highest in 2018, and showed no signs of being hindered by the blister that kept him sidelined for roughly one month.
After the game, Hill revealed that he was satisfied with his outing and specifically commended the control of his curveball, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“The ball came out of my hand the way I wanted it to,” said Hill. “That’s what I was really pleased with, the consistency with the flight of the ball and the way the curveball came out of my hand. Everything came together tonight.”
For Hill, his latest showing on the mound represented an upgrade from his previous start on June 24 against the New York Mets at Citi Field.
The left-hander yielded four earned runs in only five innings and especially struggled with his command, as only 58 of his 89 pitches registered for strikes. He additionally hit three batters in the game while allowing one walk and one home run as well.
Hill later described his outing as “pretty sloppy” and expressed disappointment in the execution of his pitches. He still hit two Rockies batters but otherwise showed improved command thanks to a mechanical adjustment with his foot.
Since re-joining the Dodgers starting rotation, Hill has averaged nearly six innings pitched per start while compiling a 2.55 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 17.2 frames.
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