LOS ANGELES -- Like most of the Dodgers whose Spring Trainings were interrupted by injury, it’s been a grind for Rich Hill so far.
He was the losing pitcher Thursday night to the Nationals, 6-0, although he wasn’t solely to blame. The offense was handcuffed again by left-hander Patrick Corbin, who threw seven scoreless innings in what became the Dodgers’ third shutout loss this season. The Dodgers' defense committed three errors, contributing to three unearned runs for the bullpen.
Howie Kendrick slugged a three-run homer in the first inning off a Hill curveball and that was enough for the Nats to halt a four-game losing streak, end the Dodgers’ three-game win streak and their 10-game home win streak.
Hill kept intact a streak he’d rather snap, allowing a first-inning homer in each of his three starts. His ERA in the first inning is 15.00. His ERA after the first inning is 1.50.
“Just got to not do that. That would be nice,” Hill said when asked if there was a rhyme or reason to his opening-inning struggles, which are not new to this season. In 2017, his first-inning ERA was 6.12. “It’s executing pitches and not leaving breaking balls down the middle.”
“If you look back to the last couple years, there was something similar to that where we sort of changed his regimen to combat that,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I haven’t dug into Rich’s pregame routine because I still feel his intensity and intent is always there. I don’t have a reason.”
Hill, 39, had his training camp interrupted, and the start of his season delayed, by a left knee strain. Clayton Kershaw, Corey Seager, Walker Buehler and Russell Martin each missed significant game action in Arizona with injuries and each encountered early speed bumps as well.
This was only Hill’s third start since activation and he righted the ship quickly enough to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings after Kendrick’s blast.
“To Rich’s credit, to give us four scoreless innings right there, down 3-0, he might have had another inning,” said Roberts. “Just getting behind the eight-ball early put us in a tough spot.”
Afterward, Hill was more upset about the at-bat before the home run. The game started with Adam Eaton hustling a double. With one out, Hill threw a 1-2 cutter that hit Anthony Rendon in the leg. Kendrick’s home run followed a double-steal.
“Getting away from my game plan is frustrating, having a certain style of pitching,” said Hill. “The one pitch bad on my part was the cutter in to Rendon. It’s a situation to put him away, and not sticking with your strength is frustrating.”
Hill, who throws curves and fastballs 98 percent of the time, according to Statcast, said he tried to mix in the cutter after gaining confidence in it during a bullpen session.
“That was not an opportune time or pitch,” he said. “I take complete, absolute blame for that one.”
Hill said he went back to his typical curveball/fastball mix, which he credited for the 4 2/3 scoreless innings that followed.