Rich Hill gets 27 outs, can’t get 28

Phil Gurnee ♦ August 23, 2017 ♦ 1 Comment

Rich Hill found out how Harvey Haddix felt fifty-eight years ago when he finished the 9th inning with his no-hitter intact but with no decision because his team was unable to push across a single run.

The Dodgers went quietly in the 10th, and Rich Hill gave up a lead off home run to take the loss 1 – 0. It wasn’t quite Harvey Haddix who pitched twelve perfect innings before giving up an error and ultimately losing the game in the 13th 1  – 0. His opponent, Lew Burdette also went all thirteen innings. Both pitchers combined for twenty – six innings, and still finished the game under 3 hours.

Still, this might have been the toughest loss for a pitcher in the 21st century, even more so when you consider how many runs the Dodgers typically score.  Rich Hill could be pardoned if he was humming ” you picked a fine time to leave me Lucille” in reference to the Dodger offense.

The NYT came out this morning with more information on the history of the Rich Hill loss.  Turns out that Rich Hill is the first pitcher to lose a no-hitter on a home run in extra innings.

The last pitcher before Hill to throw nine no-hit innings and lose was Mark Gardner of the Expos on June 26, 1991, at Dodger Stadium. With the score 0-0 in the 10th, Gardner allowed singles to Lenny Harris and Eddie Murray before Darryl Strawberry singled off reliever Jeff Fassero to win the game for Los Angeles.

One final tidbit from the story:

And the year after Haddix’s excruciating loss, he was credited with the victory of every pitcher’s dreams: in Game 7 of the World Series, in relief for the Pirates against the Yankees.