The Los Angeles Dodgers were unable to come away with a victory against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night despite erasing a 4-1 deficit to send the game to extra innings. They ultimately fell, 5-4, in 10 innings.
The Mariners’ first four runs of the game all came in the first inning against Rich Hill as he gave up an RBI single to Nelson Cruz and three-run home run to Kyle Seager.
Hill settled in from there though, allowing just one hit through his next five innings to get through six and keep the Dodgers’ deficit minimized. He also struck out eight batters in the outing.
Despite being able to find a rhythm and the Dodgers tying the game and sending it to extras, Hill feels his inability to execute in the first inning was the difference in the game, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“First inning just wasn’t able to get the ball down, executing pitches, that was the biggest thing. I wasn’t able to drive the ball down the hill and keep my fingers on top of the ball so that was the difference in the game in my opinion.”
Hill walked a season-high five batters in the game, which he felt was a bit of the result of a small strikezone:
“I thought there were a lot of calls that were close. I’m not going to say that they were missed because I didn’t really get a chance to go back and look and the tape, but there were a lot of good pitches that I thought were strikes. I just got to be better, that’s it.”
Hill has been pitching his best ball of the season in recent weeks, and he continued that Saturday night after a rough first inning. With the Dodgers in the midst of a close division race, they will need him to continue pitching at a high level if they want to return to the postseason.
