The Boston Red Sox received a throwback pitching performance from 42-year-old Rich Hill, which set the tone for a dominant outing from the pitching staff against the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon.
Boston won the game 1-0 after just seven total hits in the game from both sides. Cora was quite complimentary of his aging starter.
“He battled, he made pitches when he had to, you know big strikeout on (Ryan) Mountcastle there and flip the ball to the bullpen,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.
Hill mixed his tempo and velocity like a magician, even featuring a 68 mph slider for a strike, Cora spoke about Hill’s longevity and ability to perform at the highest level for as long as he wants.
“The craft of pitching,” Cora said. That’s why I do believe he can pitch until whenever he wants to or his family lets him. You see physically he stays in great shape. He’s on top of the craft.”
Here are more notes from Red Sox-Orioles
— Trevor Story was pulled from the game in the seventh inning after injuring his ankle upon running to first base during a double play he hit into. Cora gave no update but said the injury occurred upon contact with the bag.
— Matt Barnes appears to be back to his old self after another shutdown inning in the clutch. Cora credited the return of his once-electric fastball as the main reason behind his resurgence.
— Cora is pulling for Hill to make the Team USA World Baseball Classic roster.
“We were talking about the WBC next year, (Hill) really wants to do it and I actually talked to Mark DeRosa (who is managing Team USA) and I said ‘Hey he can open, he can get lefties out. He can give five solid innings,’ so we’ll see what happens in the end.”
— The Red Sox will continue their run against American League East foe with the rival New York Yankees at Fenway Park on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET following an hour of pregame coverage, and you can watch it all on NESN.
