Dodgers News: Rich Hill Throws Near Perfect Game in Pittsburgh

Rich Hill was nearly perfect against the Pirates in Pittsburgh at PNC Park.

He was almost the second Dodger to ever throw a perfect game. Sandy Koufax did it on September 9th, 1965, against the Chicago Cubs. He was almost the 26th Dodgers pitcher to throw a no-hitter. The most recent no-hitter  was Clayton Kershaw on June 18th, 2014, against the Colorado Rockies.

Hill was absolutely locking down Pirates hitters from the start. To start off, he went NINE shutout, hitless innings. He went on to strikeout ten Pirates batters. The ONLY blip in his entire start was the last pitch of the game; a home run to Pirates’ second baseman, Josh Harrison. He lost the perfect game when he allowed a ground ball to third base and Logan Forsythe, filling in for Justin Turner, made an error.

The real blame should land on the offense, who collectively left 25 men on base tonight. This was the second time that Rich Hill had thrown a near perfect game as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tonight had to have been even more heartbreaking than the last, as he completed nine no-hit (should have been perfect) innings, but received ZERO run support from his teammates.

Rich Hill deserves all the kudos in the world tonight for what he did. The offense getting shut down by Trevor Williams for eight innings is something that should not have happened.