Rich Hill’s return from the disabled list lasted all of three innings on Sunday, and the Los Angeles Dodgers saw their modest two-game winning streak against the Arizona Diamondbacks snapped in a 3-1 loss.
While Hill had previously downplayed any concern over the blister on his left middle finger, he wasn’t overly sharp in the short outing. With some help from Joc Pederson making a catch while crashing into the center-field fence, Hill managed to throw a 1-2-3 first inning.
Taijuan Walker retired the first two batters faced, then surrendered back-to-back singles to Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez. Yasmani Grandal worked a walk to load the bases, which continued to be more of a nemesis than benefit for the Dodgers, as Pederson struck out.
He navigated some traffic in the second inning after issuing a leadoff walk and allowing a base hit. Brandon Drury grounded into a double play and David Peralta grounded it shortstop. A mistake pitch to Chris Iannetta on an 0-2 count proved costly and resulted in a solo home run in the third.
Walker singled with one out and base hits from Chris Owings and Paul Goldschmidt loaded the bases. Hill then walked Jake Lamb on four pitches to bring a run in. That was the extent of the damage, however, with Yasmany Tomas striking out and Drury grounding out.
Walker bookended a scoreless third inning with strikeouts of Andrew Toles and Turner. Hill spent much of that frame speaking with a trainer and going in and out of the clubhouse. He took the mound to warm up but was replaced by Ross Stripling.
The Dodgers later announced Hill was removed due to re-aggravating the blister on his left middle finger. Yasiel Puig’s RBI double in the bottom of the fourth got the Dodgers on the board and cut their deficit in half. Stripling struck out Goldschmidt and Lamb after allowing a one-out single in the fifth to complete a second scoreless inning.
Tomas and Drury connected on consecutive singles with no outs in the sixth. Stripling induced a force out, walked Iannetta, and was replaced by Sergio Romo. He needed two pitches to get pinch-hitter Nick Ahmed to hit into an inning-ending double play.
A.J. Pollock led off the seventh with a walk and moved into scoring position on a slow groundout to second base. Goldschmidt’s RBI single extended the Diamondbacks’ lead to 3-1 and knocked Romo out of the game.
Pollock robbed Corey Seager of an extra-base hit in the eighth inning by making a catch while crashing into the fence in center field. Fernando Rodney, who surrendered a home run to Puig on Saturday, worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to earn a save.
Pedro Baez and Grant Dayton combined for two scoreless innings in the losing effort.
