The 35-year-old Hill (2-0) was released by Washington in June, then played for the Long Island Ducks in an independent league before signing a minor league deal with the Red Sox in August.
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In three starts for the Sox, Hill has pitched 24 innings and allowed just three runs while striking out 30 – 10 in each of his three starts.
The rather awesome resurgence of Rich Hill continued at Fenway Park on Friday night – and ended with a rather unbelievable play.
Red Sox: Lefty reliever Craig Breslow (0-3) is scheduled to make his first career start as Lovullo goes to a “bullpen game”.
They came into the game 11-4 in their last 15 and started play 3 1/2 games out of the second American League wild card slot and fell to 76-77.
Hill was not just dominant, he was extraordinary.
Finally, in the ninth, the Orioles got their second hit.
Against the Orioles, Hill gave up a leadoff single to Nolan Reimold to open the game. The Orioles had just four base runners on the night. The Boston Red Sox have won eight of their last 10 home games. And right fielder Mookie Betts provided it in the ninth inning, leaping over the right-field wall to steal a surefire home run from major-league leader Chris Davis. In his prior start Sunday at Tampa Bay, he had two outs two batters into the fifth inning, only to allow a three-run homer to Logan Forsythe in a six-inning, four-run outing. Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out to advance Holt to third base.
Adam Jones has insisted the Baltimore Orioles won’t stop trying to hunt down a postseason berth until someone tells them they’ve been eliminated.
The Red Sox (73-80) jumped on Gausman early in the sixth. Xander Bogaerts leads Boston with 185 hits and 79 RBI while Mookie Betts and David Ortiz have combined for 172 RBI.
Pedroia, who held up to see if the ball was caught so he could tag, beat the relay throw by going in headfirst before Bogaerts slid in ahead of Joseph’s tag. On Gausman’s wild pitch, B.Holt scored.
Pedroia led off the bottom of the frame with a walk, and Bogaerts slapped an infield single to put two men on for Ortiz. The next three went for strikes to Manny Machado, ending the threat.
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Donaldson tied the game with his 40th home run of the season, hitting a 2-2 cutter to center with one out in the third. NOTES: A day after the Red Sox hired Mike Hazen as their new general manager, the club brought in former Atlanta Braves GM Frank Wren to serve as vice president of baseball operations and also named Brad Pearson head athletic trainer and Paul Buchheit as his assistant.
