Tag Archives: Rich Hill

Jun 09

Game 62, 2017

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Reds at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-O

The Reds have lost their last six games at Dodger Stadium, their last five series there and were swept in last year’s three-game series for the first time since 2009.

YALHP Amir Garrett (3-4, 7.17 ERA) pitches for the Redlegs and Rich Hill (2-2, 4.15 ERA) goes for the Dodgers.

Garrett has been hit hard in his last three starts (21 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings). He spent time on the 10-day DL and came back off just to get lit up by the Braves, lasting only 2 2/3 innings while giving up nine runs (eight earned). Hill has had trouble with finger blisters and with control: his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 1.44 (Kershaw’s is 7.2; McCarthy’s is 3.4). Hill’s WHIP has jumped from 0.79 in his six starts for the Dodgers last season to 1.54 in six this season.

Is this the year Kershaw surpasses Koufax?

Meanwhile, if the arguments about Koufax and Kershaw right now are too close to call, this is probably the last year we can have that debate, if it’s not too late already. Because Kershaw shows no sign of slowing down, and with each passing season he sets a new standard for Dodgers pitchers. In fact, among pitchers with at least 1,500 innings, Kershaw’s 160 ERA+ is the best of all time.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1919 Dodger standout pitcher Rube Marquard breaks his leg running the bases, ending his season with a record of 3-3. The hard-throwing southpaw will finish his 18-year Hall of Fame career in 1925, after compiling a 201-177 record along with an ERA of 3.08.
  • 1973 Rightfielder Rusty Staub becomes the pivot man in a very unusual double play during a 4-2 Mets victory against the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. Racing in from the outfield, ‘Le Grand Orange’ gets a throw near second base from first baseman John Milner and tags Davey Lopes, who was picked-off from first, and then throws home to nail Tom Paciorek trying to score from second during the P-1B-SS-1B-2B-1B-2B-RF-C rundown.
  • 1990 Eddie Murray ties Mickey Mantle’s major league mark, hitting a homer from both sides of the plate for the tenth time in his career. The switch-hitting first baseman’s second home run of the game, batting left-handed against Eric Show, proves to be the eventual winning run in the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over San Diego in the 11th inning at Jack Murphy Stadium.

That action enable the following lineup to be put forward.

Lineup when available.

Jun 03

Game 57, 2017

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Dodgers at Brewers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSWI

The Dodgers send LHP Rich Hill (2-2, 4.09 ERA) to the mound to face the Brewers’ RHP Matt Garza (2-2, 3.98 ERA). Hill went five innings in his last start and threw 86 pitches, the most he’s thrown all year. He got the win against the Cardinals. Garza has lost two straight and given up ten runs in the 11 innings he pitched in those games.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1989 In a 22-inning game played at the Astrodome, Houston beats the Dodgers, 5-4, when Rafael Ramirez’ run-scoring single plates Bill Doran to end the contest at 2:50 a.m., seven hours and 14-minutes after it started. The longest game in National League history features L.A. center fielder John Shelby going 0-for-10 and southpaw Fernando Valenzuela finishing the game at first base.

Lineup when available.

May 29

Game 52, 2017

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Dodgers at Cardinals, 11:15 AM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-M

Rich Hill (1-2, 4.76 ERA) for the Dodgers, Mike Leake (5-2, 1.91 ERA) for the Cardinals.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1905 According to legend, Dodger hurler Elmer Stricklett introduces the spitball, helping Brooklyn to beat the Giants, 4-3. Prior to the the 1921 season, the spitball will be totally banned except for 17 existing spitballers who are allowed to keep throwing the slippery pitch legally until they are retired, including including Burleigh Grimes, who will be the last player to legally throw a doctored pitch before retiring in 1934.
  • 1928 At Ebbets Field, Bill Terry hits for the cycle to pace the Giants to a 12-5 victory over the Robins (Dodgers). The New York first baseman is the first player in major league history to include a grand slam as part of the cycle.
  • 1956 In a 10-1 loss to the Dodgers at Forbes Field, Dale Long is held hitless by Don Newcombe, ending his consecutive-game home run streak. The Pirates’ first baseman had established a new major league mark by homering in the last eight Pittsburgh contests.
  • 1979 At Dodger Stadium, Dusty Baker, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Garvey, Gary Thomasson, Derrel Thomas, Joe Ferguson, and Davey Lopes set a team record by hitting seven home runs as the Dodgers crush the Reds, 17-6.
  • 2000 At the age of 104, Fred Roberts, the oldest living Dodger fan, makes his first visit to Dodger Stadium. Wearing a jersey with the number 104, the World War I veteran cheers as Shawn Green’s sixth inning grand slam helps to beat Al Leiter and the Mets, 4-1.

Alex Wood to the 10-day DL with shoulder joint inflammation.

Lineup:

May 24

Game 47, 2017

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Cardinals at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-M, MLBN (out-of-market only)

RHP Mike Leake (4-2, 2.03 ERA) tries to recapture his lead in the NL ERA race one night after he was overtaken by the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw (2.01 ERA after last night’s gem). He’ll face the Dodgers’ Rich Hill (1-1, 2.77 ERA), who’ll be pitching on seven days’ rest.

Leake has been impressive all season; in fact he’s the only NL pitcher to post a quality start every time he’s gone to the mound in 2017. This will be Hill’s second start since coming off the 10-DL; he hasn’t faced the Cardinals since 2008.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 Carl Furillo hits a three-run homer as a pinch-hitter in the first frame of the Dodgers’ 4-3 ten-inning loss to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field. The unusual substitution occurs when Phillies manager Ben Chapman uses his right-handed starter Al Jurisch to pitch only to Brooklyn’s first two hitters, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, and then brings in southpaw Oscar Judd, who had been warming up from the start of the game, to face the next three lefty hitters, Pete Reiser, Dixie Walker, and Gene Hermanski, the batter replaced by Furillo.
  • 1973 In a 19-inning marathon, LA outfielder Willie Davis collects six hits in a 7-3 loss to the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The two clubs establish a National League mark by hitting into a combined nine double plays.
  • 2000 Sixteen Dodger players and three coaches are suspended by the commissioner’s office for going into the stands during the Wrigley Field scuffle with fans on May 16. The suspensions totaling 60 games for players and 24 games for coaches is the harshest penalty ever handed down by major league baseball.

In non-Dodger history I thought this was interesting:

  • 1964 The major league mark for shutouts in one day is broken as seven of the twenty major league teams do not cross home plate. The Twins, White Sox, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Cardinals, and Pirates are all blanked. The record is now eight, set on June 4, 1972. Yes, the Dodgers were participants. Claude Osteen lost to Bob Gibson 4-0.

Lineup when available.

Puig’s ribs can’t hurt him too much if he’s in the outfield again tonight.

May 16

Game 40, 2017

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Dodgers at Giants, 7:15 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, NBCS-BA

LHP Rich Hill (1-1, 3.38 ERA) tries to avoid blister problems while making his third start of the year; after each of his first two he had to go on the 10-day DL while his fingers healed. He pitched five innings Wednesday in a rehab assignment with Rancho Cucamonga with no physical effects. The Giants counter with YALHP Ty Blach (0-2, 4.88 ERA), who has taken Madison Bumgarner’s spot in the rotation while Bumgarner recovers from his dirt bike accident. Blach has gone 1-1 with a 1.13 ERA in three games (two starts) against the Dodgers in his career. In the game he won he shut out the Dodgers over eight innings on three hits. That was in October of 2016.

To make room for Hill the Dodgers optioned Grant Dayton to Oklahoma City.

Today in Dodgers history:

  • 1967 Reliever Phil Regan loses his first game in 77 appearances. The ‘Vulture’ gets pinned with his first defeat in over a year when Astros’ third baseman Bob Aspromonte hits a two-run triple in the tenth to beat the Dodgers, 5-3.
  • 2000 After a fan steals Los Angeles’ catcher Chad Kreuter’s hat and hits him in the back of the head, many Dodgers, including coaches John Shelby and Rick Dempsey, go into the stands and start fighting with the Wrigley Field faithful. When the melee ends, several fans are arrested as the game is delayed nearly ten minutes, and there is litter all over the field.

Lineup when available.

No Bellinger, no Seager. González is with Rancho Cucamonga for his first-ever rehab assignment.

Apr 21

Game 17, 2017

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Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 6:40PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

There’s another lefty on the hill in this game, but for a change it’s the Dodgers’ pitcher. Alex Wood (1-0, 1.00 ERA, 8K) takes the injured Rich Hill’s spot tonight against the D-Backs’ righty Taijuan Walker (2-1, 3.94, 16K). Wood has made one previous start this season. He went 3 2/3 innings against the Cubs on April 10, walked five, struck out four and gave up only one earned run. He’s pitched an additional 5 1/3 innings of relief this year. Walker allowed one run in five innings with seven strikeouts against the Dodgers on April 16 and got the win.

Lineup when available.

Apr 17

Game 14, 2017

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Rich Hill spoke to Alanna Rizzo about his recurring blister problem.

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

I think the other National League teams have concluded that the Dodgers are vulnerable to left-handed pitching, and until proven otherwise they’re going to keep starting them. Thus today the Diamondbacks send LHP Robbie Ray (1-0, 2.19 ERA) out for the finale of this four-game series. He’ll be opposed by RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-0, 1.50 ERA) for the Dodgers.

Ray has a 2.96 ERA in his career against the home team. Among current team members only Kiké Hernandez and Yasiel Puig have had great success against him.

McCarthy has been a very pleasant surprise for the Dodgers since coming off last year’s surgery. He held the Padres to two runs over six innings in his first start and last time out he blanked the Cubs for six innings. Only one of the current D-Backs has even 10 at-bats against him in his career. He pitched for the D-backs in 2013-2014 and went 8-21 with a 4.75 ERA in 40 starts.

Lineup when available.

Apr 16

Game 13, 2017

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

RHP Taijuan Walker (1-1, 4.91 ERA) takes the mound for the D-Backs and LHP Rich Hill (1-0, 1.80 ERA) comes off the 10-day disabled list to pitch for the Dodgers. Walker lost his grip on his last start against the Giants when he threw away (video) a comebacker with the bases loaded in the 4th:

With the bases loaded and one out, Moore tapped a dribbler that Walker fielded halfway up the first-base line. He threw wildly past home, enabling Brandon Crawford to score. Catcher Jeff Mathis scooped up the ball but misfired past Walker, who was covering home. Joe Panik scored on that play. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt caught up with the ball and threw home, but Jarrett Parker slid under Walker’s tag.

Hill missed his last start with a blister on his pitching hand. His curve is devastating to hitters but it hurts him as well, apparently. In his first and only start so far he was very effective, giving up only two hits and one run over five innings to the Padres on April 5.

The Dodgers will have to option someone to make room for Hill on the roster. Trayce Thompson goes down. Forsythe’s hammy leaves him available for pinch-hitting duty today. He’s expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow.

Lineup when available.

Apr 05

Game 3, 2017

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

The Padres’ righthander Trevor Cahill makes his first start of the season against the team he’s faced more often than any other in the big leagues: he’s pitched against the Dodgers 20 times with a 6-5 record and a 3.86 ERA. He spent the last two years with the Cubs and went 4-4 in 50 games with a 2.74 ERA in 65 innings. He hasn’t been a full-time starter since 2014.

The Dodgers will counter with lefty Rich Hill, who signed a three-year $48M contract after coming over from the As at the trade deadline last year. He pitched well for the Dodgers despite ongoing blister problems, going 3-2 with a 1.83 ERA in six starts.

Lineup when available.

Mar 29

Freeway Series begins

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The Dodgers and Angels put on their annual Freeway Series three-game show to end spring training for both teams starting Friday night. Opening Day is Monday, April 3 against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

Brandon McCarthy earned the #4 spot in the rotation. He’ll be preceded by Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill and followed by Hyun-jin Ryu. At least that’s the plan today.

Roberts added that Alex Wood, a finalist for the rotation, would share the long relief role with Ross Stripling. Rounding out the bullpen are closer Kenley Jansen, set-up man Sergio Romo, Grant Dayton, Luis Avilan and Chris Hatcher.

Barnes will likely be the backup catcher, although that’s not been formally announced. Kiké Hernandez hurt his wrist the other day and is questionable for the backup infielder spot until he shows it’s healed. If he can’t go, it’ll probably be Chris Taylor, and that might mean Van Slyke stays up too, since he can play center field and Taylor doesn’t. Additionally,

The Dodgers trimmed the roster before leaving Arizona on Wednesday, sending out seven players. Infielder Rob Segedin was optioned and reassigned were outfielders Tyler Holt and O’Koyea Dickson, pitcher Brandon Morrow, first basemen Cody Bellinger and Ike Davis, and infielder Charlie Culberson.