Southpaw turns in fourth straight quality start despite suffering loss

(Central Islip, N.Y., Oct. 1, 2015) – Former Long Island Ducks pitcher Rich Hill made what will likely be his final start of the season on Thursday with the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

CLICK HERE to check out a feature article on Hill’s start

CLICK HERE to watch a press box level video of Hill facing the Yankees

The southpaw turned in his fourth consecutive quality start since being promoted to the Major Leagues, allowing just two runs in six innings of work. He retired the Yankees in order in the first inning but gave up a pair of runs in the second on a solo home run by Carlos Beltran and a RBI single by Brendan Ryan after allowing a pair of walks. However, Hill settled down and pitched four scoreless innings to close his outing, capping it by striking out the side of Alex Rodriguez, Beltran and Chris Young in the sixth. At the end of his outing, he had allowed four hits and three walks while striking out six batters.

The 35-year-old is now 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA in four starts this year with Boston, giving up just five runs in 29 innings of work. In that span, he has allowed only 14 hits and five walks while striking out 36 batters. In addition to his outing against the Yankees, Hill threw a complete game shutout against the Balitmore Orioles in Boston on September 25, pitched seven innings of three-run ball against the Blue Jays on September 20 in Toronto and hurled seven scoreless innings against the Rays on September 13 at Tampa Bay.

Hill was signed by the Red Sox and assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket on August 10 after making two impressive starts with the Ducks. While with Pawtucket, the southpaw made five starts and went 3-2 with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 29 batters in 32 and one-third innings. In his two starts with Long Island, he pitched 11 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out 21 batters. In addition, the 35-year-old tied a franchise record for a single game by striking out 14 batters on August 9 against Camden, matching the mark set by Mike Loree on September 15, 2011 at Southern Maryland.

The Boston native has 11 seasons of big league experience, including one with the New York Yankees in 2014. That year, he compiled a 1.69 ERA and nine strikeouts in 14 games out of the bullpen. He also pitched in the Majors with the Red Sox from 2010-12, posting a 2-0 record with a 1.14 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 40 games. Hill has spent time at the game’s highest level with the Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as well and has a career record of 26-23 with a 4.54 ERA and 497 strikeouts in 500 innings over 201 games (74 starts).

The Long Island Ducks are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and play their home games at Bethpage Ballpark. For further information, call (631) 940-DUCK or visit www.liducks.com.

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