One thing that has allowed Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill to slowly build into his delayed season is an offense that has showered him with a plethora of runs.
Hill has not been at his midseason best in his two starts since recovering from a sprained left knee, but your results don’t have to be first-rate if your offense is going to give you seven runs a night.
So even though Hill gave up five runs (one earned) in his season debut on April 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he gave up three more in four innings against the San Diego Padres on Saturday, the Dodgers won both games by 7-6 scores.
His third opportunity will come Thursday night at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a four-game series against the Washington Nationals, who also will send a left-hander to the mound in Patrick Corbin. The Dodgers are riding a 10-game winning streak at Dodger Stadium.
The Nationals head west after being swept in a three-game series at Milwaukee, which extended their losing streak to four games. The Nationals also have lost five of their past six games and eight of the past 10.
The Nationals have scored just seven combined runs over their past four games, although Hill (0-0, 3.60 ERA) will be focused mostly on his own issues. He decried his mechanics in his last outing.
“I think tempo and rhythm were terrible,” Hill told the Los Angeles Times about his outing against the Padres. “Timing was awful. There’s not really a lot of good takeaways from (Saturday), personally.”
Hill is 2-1 lifetime against the Nationals in six appearances (four starts), with a 3.80 ERA.
Corbin (2-1, 3.71) made four starts against the Dodgers last season as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He posted a 0.77 ERA in 23 1/3 innings.
In 20 appearances (18 starts) against the Dodgers in his career, Corbin is just 4-9, but he has a decent 3.59 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 102 2/3 innings.
After opening his season with a 2.48 ERA over his first five starts, Corbin has given up a combined nine earned runs over his past two outings.
The Nationals have lost six consecutive series as Trea Turner, Juan Soto, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Adams all are on the injured list. Anthony Rendon is back from a left elbow contusion, although he did not have a hit in seven at-bats during consecutive defeats to the Brewers.
“Our pitching staff’s not throwing bad,” Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton said, according to mlb.com. “Defensively, myself included, we’re not playing good defensively. And now, timely hitting isn’t all that timely, so it’s been a struggle. … We’ve just got to fight back and find a way to score some runs.”
Help is on the way in the form of outfielder Gerardo Parra, who was released by the San Francisco Giants and reportedly agreed to a free-agent deal with the Nationals.