On Saturday, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made the hard decision to pull left-hander Rich Hill from the game after he had worked seven flawless innings against the Miami Marlins.
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Hill entered the game a combined 11-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 16 starts this year for Oakland and the Dodgers, who acquired him on August 1.
Hill has been recovering from a blister in his pitching hand, and Roberts said that was the reason for his quick trigger; the veteran left-hander hadn’t thrown more than 89 pitches in a start since joining the Dodgers. “Rich obviously had a flawless game and an opportunity of a lifetime”. “There was a lot of soft contact with Kenta and those guys took what they gave him”.
If Dave Roberts gets the call as National League Manager of the Year, he might not hear the phone ring over the shouts from angry Los Angeles Dodgers fans.
After all, Hill has dealt with a blister issue this season.
The Dodgers view Hill as a vital asset for October.
Acquired from Oakland on August 1, Hill spent three weeks on the disabled before making his Dodgers debut August 24.
Urena retired the Dodgers on 15 pitches or fewer in each of the first seven innings and went into the ninth having thrown just 95 in all.
The fact that Roberts pulled Hill after the seventh shows some solid forward thinking from the first-year manager.
“I think I missed on both pitches”, he said. “Obviously I didn’t want to come out of the game, right?” And he’s got to balance the bigger picture with the personal accomplishment.
“Dave has been incredible, and it goes without saying, the position we are in has a lot to do with how he’s been able to orchestrate this team”, Hill said. You look at it and you move on. That’s all you can do.
“Yes, it does feel like a loss”, he said. “I was praying to God this wasn’t the first time tonight”. He said he is focused on his next start at Arizona next weekend.
There’s no doubt who the big dogs are in the Miami lineup.
“It’s the toughest thing I’ve had to do”, Roberts said. “We had better energy than we’ve had in a while today”.
Baseball Twitter lit up in the middle of a college football Saturday, which is how you know something insane was happening. He’d be at 101 needing three more outs for history, and that hot finger may have had some extra fire.
“That was an incredible play and when you see a no-hitter or ideal game, you never know what’s going to happen”, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “But I’m looking at it from the team aspect”. “You have to understand that”.
Only 23 flawless games have been thrown in the history of baseball.
Ross Stripling was removed from a potential no-hitter during his April 8 debut.
The Baltimore Orioles are only two games behind after an 11-3 thrashing of the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees are one further back following their 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Roberts recognized disappointed Dodgers fans not long after he denied starter Rich Hill a chance at history Saturday.
