Clayton Kershaw was pulled from a perfect game on Wednesday after seven innings and 80 pitches, which led to lots of raised eyebrows and an outcry on social media. Red Sox pitcher Rich Hill knows the feeling.
According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, just two pitchers have been robbed of a perfect game after at least seven innings. One of them, of course, is Kershaw. And the other? That would be Hill, who re-joined the Red Sox this offseason.
Hill, then a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, tossed seven perfect innings against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 10, 2016, fanning nine batters before he was pulled. The Dodgers ended up winning, 5-0.
Speaking to Cotillo, Hill noted he was dealing with a blister on his finger and believed that, as well as a potential playoff push by the Dodgers, led to his removal from the game. But he still would have liked to accomplish the milestone.
“Would it have been something that would have been amazing to accomplish? Absolutely,” Hill told Cotillo. “There’s no question about that, personally and professionally. It was difficult to go through as a player, to be in a situation like that.”
Coincidentally, it was Dodgers manager Dave Roberts who decided to end both players’ quests for history. Speaking to reporters, Roberts was not too worked up about the decision. Kershaw, meanwhile, said it was “the right choice” for him to come out of the game.
