Just when you think you’ve seen the best outing of the season by a Dodgers starting pitcher, another one comes along; or better still, the next one comes along. Whether it be Dodgers ace left-hander and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw with his 14 consecutive wins; or fellow left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu with his 93-pitch ‘Maddux’ complete-game shutout followed by eight shutout innings in his very next start on an amazing 116 pitches; or right-hander Kenta Maeda with his brilliant 6.2-inning shutout performance during which he struck out a season-high 12 batters, all of them swinging.

That next one to come along was 15-year MLB veteran left-hander Rich Hill, who became only the second pitcher in Dodgers history age 39 or older to strike out 10 or more batters in a game, doing so on Friday night in front of 27,457 at Great American Ballpark when he struck out 10 Cincinnati Reds batters in his outstanding 6.0-inning / two-hit shutout performance. In doing so, the extremely popular Boston, Massachusetts native joined Hall of Fame right-hander Dazzy Vance, who pitched for the Brooklyn Robins (and later the Brooklyn Dodgers) from 1922 until 1932, to accomplish this extremely rare feat.

“I think I played with him my first year,” Hill kidded with reporters following his brilliant outing and the Dodgers 6-0 win.

“Tonight Richie had it going,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts of his veteran lefty. “He was spinning it the right way at the top of the zone. The breaking ball had that north-south depth that he likes. He was in complete control tonight.”

When asked about the remarkable outings of his fellow starting pitchers, Hill acknowledged what we have all had the pleasure of witnessing over the past two weeks.

“Everybody’s throwing the ball excellent,” Hill said. “Starter after starter, we’re attacking the zone. And I think that’s the biggest thing, we’re going after hitters and pitching to our strengths.”

Of course, you can’t win a game – shutout or otherwise – unless you get run support from your offense, which Hill received plenty of on Friday night, including four home runs. The first was a two-run shot by a suddenly heating up Corey Seager in the top of the second inning, back-to-back solo shots by Joc Pederson and Max Muncy in the third inning, and a solo shot by Cody Bellinger to leadoff the eighth inning.

Ironically, the other Dodgers run came when, after striking out in the top of the sixth inning, Bellinger reached first base on a wild pitch by Reds left-hander Cody Reed and eventually scored on a base hit by struggling utility infielder / outfielder Kiké Hernandez.

“Even when he makes an out he gets on base,” former Dodger great and current broadcaster Rick Monday said of Bellinger’s rare strikeout / run scored.

Hill was relieved in the bottom of the seventh inning by Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling, who also allowed no runs and only one hit in his 1.0 inning of work. Right-hander Dylan Floro continued his outstanding 2019 season with a perfect eighth inning.

The only real threat came in the bottom of the ninth when, yet again, troubled Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly walked the first batter he faced, Reds center fielder Nick Senzel, on four pitches. Fortunately, Kelly got Reds perennial All-Star first baseman Joey Votto to ground into a perfectly executed 4-6-3 double play and then struck out Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez to end the inning and the game.

But as far as the Dodgers outstanding starting pitching goes, the burning question is … who’s next?

Play Ball!

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