Tag Archives: Rich Hill

Aug 01

Game 109, 2018

Posted on by

Brewers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSWI, Dish455, MLBN (out-of-market only)

RHP Chase Anderson (7-7, 3.69 ERA) brings his current hot streak to the mound at Dodger Stadium. He’s given up two or fewer runs in each of his last seven starts and has a 1.93 ERA over those 37 1/3 innings. He’ll face the Dodgers’ lefty Rich Hill (4-4, 3.82 ERA), who went 3-1 with a 2.42 ERA for July.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1906 After pitching 10.2 innings of no-hit ball, Harry McIntire yields a single to Pirates second baseman Claude Ritchey. The Dodgers and McIntire lose the game in the 13th on an unearned run, 1-0.
  • 1924 Dazzy Vance strikes out seven consecutive batters to establish a major league record when the Brooklyn Robins defeat the Cubs at Ebbets Field, 4-0. The future Hall of Famer, who will compile a 28-6 record for the Brooks this season, will lead the National League in strikeouts with 262.
  • 1957 Gil Hodges, in a 12-3 win over the Cubs, hits his 13th and last career grand slam in Brooklyn Dodger history. The first baseman’s bases-loaded shot off Dick Littlefield establishes a new National League record, previously shared by Rogers Hornsby and Ralph Kiner.
  • 2011 After popping out in a pinch-hitting appearance, Craig Counsell remains without a hit in his last 45 at-bats, tying the longest single-season hitless streak by a position player in history, established by Brooklyn backstop Bill Bergen in 1909. The major league record is 0-for-70, established in 1970 by Bob Buhl, a pitcher who toiled with the Braves and Cubs that season.
  • 2015 Clayton Kershaw strikes out Mike Trout looking with a wicked curveball, marking the first time that reigning MVPs have faced one another in a major league game. The interleague contest between the two LA teams ends with Dodger southpaw keeping the Angel outfielder 0-for-3 while hurling eight innings in the team’s 3-1 victory over the Halos at Chavez Ravine.

Lineup when available.


Dozier’s first start in a Dodgers uniform means someone has to sit. Tonight it’s Muncy who gets the night off.

Jul 26

Game 103, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Braves, 4:35 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE, MLBN (out-of-market only)

LHP Rich Hill (3-4, 4.26 ERA) goes for the Dodgers while the Braves send RHP Aníbal Sánchez (5-2, 2.76 ERA) to the hill. Hill went six innings in his last start against Milwaukee, giving up five hits and one run while striking out nine. Sánchez has a 2.92 ERA for the month of July and is having his best year since 2013 when he went 14-8 with a 2.57 ERA for the Tigers.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1900 In Brooklyn, a sheriff seizes the St. Louis share of gate receipts to reimburse Gus Weyhing, recently released by the Cardinals after posting a 3-4 record in eight starts with the team, who claims to have been cheated out of ten days of pay. Next week, the right-hander, known as Cannonball by his teammates, will sign with the Superbas as a free agent.
  • 1948 Former Dodger skipper Leo Durocher, who left the team ten days ago, makes his first appearance at Ebbets Field since taking over the Giants. The return of ‘the Lip’ is less-than-triumphant when his new team drops a 13-4 decision to Brooklyn.
  • 1951 In a 9-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Jim Russell becomes the first player in major league history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a game in two different games. The Dodger outfielder’s accomplishment will be surpassed in 1956 when Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle goes deep both right and left-handed in the same game for a third time.
  • 1960 The Phillies end their scoreless streak of thirty-eight consecutive innings when Johnny Callison plates Tony Gonzalez with a sixth-inning single in the team’s 4-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Philadelphia’s drought began when the team failed to score in the last six frames of a 3-0 win against the Giants, and continued when they were shut out in three straight games ( 2-0, 2-0, and 9-0) by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
  • 1991 Mark Gardner no-hits the Dodgers for nine innings, but Los Angeles wins the game in the bottom of the tenth on two singles off the Expos’ starter and Darryl Strawberry’s RBI single off reliever Jeff Fassero. It’s the first time the Dodgers had been held hitless at home for nine innings since Johnny Vander Meer’s second straight no-hitter in 1938.

Lineup when available.


One wonders why Muncy is starting at second base and why Bellinger is at first, and why Hernandez is not starting at all.

Jul 20

Game 97, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Brewers, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSWI, Dish455

The visiting Dodgers send LHP Rich Hill (2-4, 4.55 ERA) to start the second not-quite-half of the season. He’ll face lefty Wade Miley (1-1, 2.38 ERA), who’s made just one start since coming off the 60-day DL where he’d been recovering from a right oblique injury (I hope Puig’s injury requires less time than that!). In that start he went five innings, walked five, struck out five, and gave up two runs. After a one-inning relief appearance on Sunday this will be Hill’s first start in ten days.

The Dodgers suddenly find themselves with as many as eight starting pitchers.

A six-man rotation is under consideration, especially for an initial stretch of 17 games in 17 days. It would include, in no particular order, Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Kenta Maeda and Walker Buehler. But Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is throwing off a mound, could come back next month. And Julio Urias, the lefty phenom who is recovering from shoulder surgery, theoretically could rejoin the rotation by the start of September, if not sooner.

That’s eight starters if everyone stays healthy, and the Dodgers would like to somehow use all of them.

“If healthy” is the operative phrase there.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1906 At St. Louis, Brooklyn hurler Mal Eason no-hits the Cardinals, 2-0. The ‘Kid’ was the losing pitcher when Johnny Lush pitched a no-hitter against the Superbas (Dodgers) in May.
  • 1951 In a game against the Reds with All-Star hurler Ewell Blackwell on the mound, the Giants, for the first time, employ their infamous scheme for stealing catchers’ signs using a telescope positioned in the centerfield clubhouse. The ‘Jints’ beat Cincinnati, 11-6, and New York will win 22 of the remaining 27 games at the Polo Grounds, overtaking the Dodgers to win the National League pennant.
  • 1970 Twenty-six year-old right-hander Bill Singer pitches the first Dodger no-hitter since Sandy Koufax’s departure when he keeps the Philadelphia batters hitless in a 5-0 victory at Chavez Ravine. The ‘Singer Throwing Machine,’ who spent 52 days on the disabled list earlier in the season recuperating from hepatitis, posts a 5-0 record along with a 1.84 ERA in July and will be named NL Player of the Month.
  • 2008 The Dodgers, with a five-run ninth-inning rally at Chase Field, beat the Diamondbacks, 6-5, and move into a flat-footed tie (48-50) with Arizona for first place in the National League West. Andre Ethier has the key hit in the comeback victory, a go-ahead triple off the center-field wall, as D-Back closer Brandon Lyon, pitching in his third consecutive game, couldn’t hold a three-run lead.

Lineup when available. This is the first one with newly-hired Manny Machado in it.


As long as Turner’s ailing, it puts off the “where do we play Muncy” decision.

Speaking of JT, he and Alex Wood had a boisterous reaction to Machado’s acquisition:


Jul 10

Game 91, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Today’s menu has two lefties, Rich Hill (2-3, 4.56 ERA) for the Dodgers and Eric Lauer (4-5, 4.54 ERA) for the Friars. Hill seems to have recovered from his blister problems (knock on wood) and is making his regular turn despite sustaining a stiff neck in a headfirst slide his last time out. Lauer is a rookie who’s 3-2 with a 2.63 ERA since the first of June.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1943 Some of the Dodgers, led by infielder Arky Vaughan, threaten not to play in today’s game to protest the suspension of their teammate Bobo Newsome by manager Leo Durocher. The Ebbets Field contest begins ten minutes late. Brooklyn plundered the Pirates, 23-6, and in a few days, Newsome, who had argued with his skipper over a pitch selection in a previous game, is traded to the Browns for Archie McKain and Fritz Ostermueller.
  • 1953 With Roy Campanella’s home run off Giants hurler Sal Maglie, the Dodgers establish a National League record, homering in their 24th consecutive game. Campy’s homer is the only run Brooklyn scores as the Giants extend their winning streak to seven with the 6-1 victory.
  • 1979 With his team trailing the Padres 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs at Veterans Stadium, Phillies pinch hitter Del Unser hits a three-run walk-off home run, giving the team a 6-5 comeback victory. The dramatic dinger makes Del Unser only the second player in major league history to hit a homer in three consecutive at bats as a pinch hitter, a feat also accomplished by Lee Lacy of the Dodgers last season.
  • 1984 At San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, Dodger southpaw Fernando Valenzuela and Mets rookie Dwight Gooden combine to strike out six consecutive American League All-Stars on the 50th anniversary of Carl Hubbell’s memorable 1934 Midsummer Classic performance of setting down five future Hall of Famers on strikes. Dwight Gooden, at the age of 19, becomes the youngest player ever to participate in an All-Star Game.

In one of the most famous events in baseball history, at the All Star Game in 1934 in New York’s Polo Grounds, Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell faces a starting lineup comprised of nine eventual Hall of Famers. ‘King Carl’ is up to the unique occurrence in baseball history when he fans five batters in a row after letting the first two hitters reach base: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin.

Lineup when available.


Jul 04

Game 86, 2018

Posted on by

Happy Fourth of July from the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber.

Pirates at Dodgers, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-PIT

The Dodgers ask lefty Rich Hill (1-3, 4.68 ERA) to complete the sweep of the hapless Buccos, who will send RHP Clay Holmes to the mound for his first big league start. He’s 6-3 with a 3.39 ERA for AAA Indianapolis and has made two relief appearances for the Pirates, giving up two hits in four innings while striking out two.

The Dodgers and Reds made a deal today.

The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired RHP Dylan Floro, minor-league RHP Zach Neal and international signing bonus pool space from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league RHPs James Marinan and Aneurys Zabala.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1884 In American Association action, Louisville right-hander Guy Hecker pitches complete games to win both ends of a doubleheader. The Youngsville, Pennsylvania native does not walk a single batter when he beats the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers at Eclipse Park, 5-4 and 8-2.
  • 1998 The National Baseball Facility of Ireland, considered the main home of the Irish National baseball team, officially opens in Corkagh Demesne Park in Clondalkin, West Dublin when U.S. Ambassador Jean Kennedy throws out the ceremonial first pitch. Dodger owner Peter O’Malley played an instrumental role in the construction of the diamonds now known as the Fields of Dreams, which includes a regulation sized adult field and an international standard Little League field.
  • 2006 Nomar Garciaparra ties the major league record for being hit by a pitch in a game as he is plunked three times by three different Diamondback pitchers in a 10-4 Dodger victory. The LA first baseman is the first National Leaguer to equal the mark, both literally and figuratively, since the 2000 season, when Astros outfielder Richard Hidalgo got thwacked thrice in a game in April.

Lineup:


Jun 29

Game 81, 2018

Posted on by

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ATT SportsNet-RM

The Rockies send LHP Tyler Anderson (4-3, 4.62 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 5.30 ERA). Anderson has been better on the road this season; he’s 3-0 with a 4.08 ERA in nine starts away from Coors Field. His last two road starts have been even better: he’s put up a 1.93 ERA over 14 innings. In his lone start against the Dodgers this year he didn’t do well, going five innings and giving up five runs on seven hits, although he avoided taking the loss. Hill’s second start off the DL wasn’t as good as his first: he gave up four runs on five hits to the Mets and hit three batters while doing so.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1923 Dodger first baseman Jacques Fournier goes 6-for 6, collecting a home run, two doubles, and three singles. The southpaw-swinging slugger’s 11 total bases contribute to Brooklyn’s 14-5 victory over the Phillies at the Baker Bowl.
  • 1960 The Phillies strike out a dozen times in each end of a doubleheader when they are swept by the Dodgers at Connie Mack Stadium, 6-3 and 5-2. The 24 K’s tie a major league record for strikeouts in a twin bill.
  • 1990 For the first time since 1917 (Hippo Vaughan and Fred Toney), two no-hitters are thrown on the same day when the A’s Dave Stewart shuts out the Jays 5-0 and the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela blanks the Cardinals, 6-0.
  • 2012 In the Diamondbacks’ 9-3 victory over Milwaukee at Miller Park, Aaron Hill becomes the first modern-era player to hit for the cycle twice in one season since Babe Herman accomplished the feat with the Brooklyn Robins in 1931. Eleven days ago in Seattle, the Arizona second baseman also collected a single, double, triple, and home run in the game.
  • 2015 Joc Pederson becomes the third rookie in major league history to hit 20 home runs before July when he goes deep off Allen Webster in the Dodgers’ 10-6 loss to Arizona at Chase Field. The 23 year-old center fielder joins Wally Berger (Braves, 1930) and Albert Pujols (Cardinals, 2001) in accomplishing the feat as a freshman.

Lineup when available.


Jun 24

Game 76, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Mets, 10:10 AM PDT, TV: SPNLA, WPIX

The Dodgers ask LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 4.99 ERA) to win the third game of the series while the Mets ask LHP Jerry Blevins (1-1, 4.86 ERA) to make his first start in 533 big league appearances. They scratched the scheduled Jerry Vargas overnight.

Ken Gurnick reports that Kershaw reports “no physical issues” after his first start in a month yesterday.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 At Forbes Field, Jackie Robinson steals home in the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory over the Pirates. It is the Brooklyn infielder’s first thievery of the dish, something the rookie will accomplish 19 times during his ten-year career.

Lineup:


Jun 19

Game 72, 2018

Posted on by

Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ABC 7

For the Dodgers it’ll be LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 6.20 ERA) in the nightcap of this forced doubleheader. He has had a rough start to 2018, starting just six games and lasting just 24 2/3 innings in the first 2 1/2 months of the season. He’s been on the DL twice, first with a cracked fingernail and then with a blister. Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.31 ERA) will start for the Cubs. This will be his 23rd appearance. The first 18 were in relief, but he’s started in his last four games. He’s got an impressive 1.14 ERA over those starts in 23 2/3 innings, too.


Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1952 Carl Erskine throws a no-hitter against the Cubs in the Dodgers’ 5-0 victory at Ebbets Field. A third inning walk to the opposing pitcher, which accounts for the only runner to reach base, may have been a result of skipper Chuck Dressen telling the 25 year-old right-hander to speed up his pitches due to an impending storm.
  • 1963 At Yankee Stadium, the Mayor’s Trophy Game is revived, with the cellar-dwelling Mets beating the mighty Yanks, 6-2. Prior to leaving for the West Coast, the Dodgers would play the Bronx Bombers in the annual midsummer exhibition contest to raise money for sandlot baseball teams.
  • 1972 At Three Rivers Stadium, Roberto Clemente hits a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to become the Pirates’ all-time RBI leader. The Pittsburgh right fielder’s three ribbies in the 13-3 drubbing of the Dodgers give the future Hall of Famer a total of 1,274 runs batted in for the Bucs.
  • 1973 In different games, the Reds’ Pete Rose and Dodger Willie Davis both collect their 2,000th career hit. The Cincinnati infielder, known as ‘Charlie Hustle’, reaches the milestone with a single against San Francisco in the Reds’ 4-0 victory at Candlestick Park, and the L.A. outfielder, known as ‘3-Dog’, reaches the plateau in front of the home crowd with a two-run home run in the team’s 3-0 victory over Atlanta.
  • 1990 Gary Carter breaks a National League mark when he catches his 1,862nd career game in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to San Diego. The ‘Kid’ surpasses Al Lopez, who had established the record for backstops in 1946, after playing 18 seasons in the Senior Circuit with the Dodgers, Braves, and Pirates.

Also of note: In 2003 during a College World Series contest against Stanford, a pitch strikes Cal State Fullerton shortstop Justin Turner on the left side of his face as he attempts to bunt. Adding insult to injury, the future Mets and Dodgers infielder also suffers a broken ankle on the play when he unsuccessfully tries to avoid getting hit by the 87-mph fastball thrown by Matt Manship.

Lineup when available.


May 13

Game 40, 2018

Posted on by

Reds at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-O

The Reds send RHP Luis Castillo (2-4, 6.47 ERA) to try to complete a four-game sweep of the Dodgers, who will counter with Rich Hill, (1-1, 7.11 ERA). Castillo’s last two starts have been his best of the season; he gave up only four runs in 11 2/3 innings against the Mets and Brewers. Hill’s last outing was bad; he gave up seven hits and five runs in only four innings.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 During the pregame infield practice, a barrage of racial slurs is directed at Jackie Robinson by the Cincinnati fans during the Dodgers’ first visit to Crosley Field this season. Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese, captain of the team and a Southerner from Kentucky with friends attending the game, engages the black infielder in conversation, and then put his arm around his teammate’s shoulder, a gesture that stuns and silences the crowd.
    Statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese outside MCU Park, 08/02/10: zoom-lens close-up of Pee Wee's arm around Jackie (IMG_1908)

    Statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese outside MCU Park, 08/02/10: zoom-lens close-up of Pee Wee’s arm around Jackie (IMG_1908)
    Photo from Flickr by Gary Dunaier

  • 1952 Larry Miggins hits the first of his two major league home runs, going deep off Preacher Roe in the fourth inning of the Cardinals’ 14-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The round-tripper hit by the Bronx-born outfielder, who had once shared his dream of playing in big leagues during a prep school assembly with a buddy with aspirations to be a baseball broadcaster, is called by an overwhelmed Vin Scully, Brooklyn’s play-by-play announcer who had wondered that day with his friend “what the odds against that would be.”
  • 2013 Thanks to a seventh-grade history class project, a three-mile stretch of the Kansas K-79 highway, from K-16 highway to Circleville, is designated by the Kansas legislature as the Barnes Brothers Memorial Highway in honor of Ozzie and Virgil, who grew up in the community and played with the Braves, Giants, and Dodgers in the 1910-20s. The McAlister middle schoolers’ research brought to light the many major league accomplishments of the two siblings, including being participants in first brother matchup in big league history.

Lineup when available.