Rich Hill dropped a perfect bunt for his first hit of the season and then had an adventure on the bases
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Rich Hill did a nice job of keeping the Pirates off the bases on Wednesday, holding them to four hits and a walk over five innings of two-run ball in the Dodgers' 6-4 win. As it turned out, Hill's most involved encounter with the basepaths came when he was on them himself.
In the fourth inning, Hill stepped to the plate, still looking for his first hit of the 2018 season. A failed bunt attempt in the second had made him 0-for-14, but Hill stayed persistent and followed a familiar expression: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
This time, Hill's bunt was perfect:
That's a gem of a bunt, and Hill's speed was on display, too. He got down the first-base line in 4.03 seconds, the Dodgers' fifth-fastest home-to-first time on a single in 2018.
Hill's rotationmate, Clayton Kershaw, was excited:
Pirates pitcher Richard Rodríguez kept Hill on his toes. The reliever uncorked two wild pitches, sending Hill to second and then third. The race was on.
Manager Dave Roberts was amused by Hill's baserunning adventures. "It was a lot of running for Rich," he cracked to MLB.com's Kaelen Jones after the game.
Hill even had a chance to score when Max Muncy lifted a fly ball to Starling Marte in deep center. This time, the Bucs stopped him in his tracks:
It was a noble effort by Hill, but perhaps one can only fly close to the sun so many times. "Besides the slide at home, I thought everything else was O.K.," he said. "I just need to learn how to slide feet-first."
If the improved bunt from Hill's second chance on Wednesday is any indication, then he'll have slides down in no time.