Rich Hill had spent the better part of the last week watching video of his last start, a painful exercise. He was forced to relive one of the worst and shortest starts of his career, having been hit around for four runs on six hits in just two innings last week by the Seattle Mariners.
Eventually, Hill found what he was looking for: the "tell'' in his windup that alerted the Mariners what was coming. Having made some adjustments to his delivery, Hill was confident he had eliminated the tipping. Major league hitters don't need any additional help.
"We resolved a lot of those issues,'' said Hill, who noted the problems came from how he displayed his glove during his windup.
And for the first four innings Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, it was clear that Hilcaught l had successfully done his homework. If the Chicago White Sox knew what he was about to throw next, it sure didn't help them much. Hill retired the White Sox in order in the first. The fact that Hill caught perhaps the White Sox' best hitter, Tim Anderson, looking at a fastball for a called third strike in the bottom of the first inning was all the evidence Hill needed to know that his work had paid off.
Similarly, he set down the White Sox in order in the second and then quickly recorded the first hitter he faced in the third. More feedback, all of it positive.
A walk to Reese McGuire followed, but McGuire was soon eliminated on the bases as part of an inning-ending double play. The fourth inning was more of the same, which is to say, more dominance -- or as dominant as a pitcher can be in 2022 without throwing anything harder than 88 mph. Through four innings, Hill had faced the minimum number of hitters and still hadn't allowed a hit.
In the fifth, however, things changed in a hurry. Jose Abreu fought off an inside pitch with an excuse-me swing producing a double into right field. Next, A.J. Pollock hit a grounder to third that Rafael Devers fielded fine, but Devers then airmailed a throw to first that pulled Franchy Cordero off the bag, resulting in two on and no out.
Hill got ahead of the next hitter, Jake Burger, with a couple of breaking pitches, 0-and-2. But perhaps feeling a little too greedy, Hill threw Burger yet another breaking ball -- from a lower arm angle -- that Burger greeted with a thunderous swing. The ball sailed 444 feet, deep into the left-field seats, and what had been a 1-0 Red Sox lead was quickly a 3-1 deficit.
The Sox, who had been so prolific in the series opener, setting season highs in virtually every offensive category -- hits, homers, extra-base hits and runs -- produced only two more hits the rest of the way.
Again, there was the irony. Hill has worked so hard to eliminate any potential for ripping pitches, only to outsmart himself by throwing the same pitch twice in a row to Burger. Burger wasn't expecting that, but he sure was ready for it.
"I just went to the well one too many times with that drop-down slider,'' confessed Hill. "That's on me. It's a tough one. It keeps you up at night. One pitch, obviously, I'd like to have it back. But that's the game. We've been playing great baseball. The guys being able to give us the lead (in the first inning was great) and my inability to keep us there is something that's frustrating.
"In those situations, in big moments in the game, you have to make pitches and I tip my hat to the guys who put the bat on the ball. But at the same time, it's frustrating. You want to go out there and keep this roll going.''
Had Hill stumbled ever so slightly in almost any other game in the past week, it likely wouldn't have mattered. The Sox were relentless with their offense just 24 hours earlier, and had been averaging better than seven runs per game over the previous 13 games.
But they couldn't sustain anything against Chicago starter Lucas Giolito. They had their chances, again and again, with two baserunners in every inning from the second through the fourth but failed to cash in. After that, Giolito finished with a flourish, retiring the final seven hitters he faced. The Sox' best chances had come and gone.
And so, Hill could do little but ruminate over that one pitch and question both his choice and execution.
"If that ball had traveled a little bit more in on the hands or kind of just hung there and spun back,'' said Hill, "maybe it's a different situation. But it isn't and we've got to pick it back up tomorrow.''
Having spent his time and energy on correcting a past flaw, Hill had something new to worry about. Even at 42, the game doesn't get any easier.
