PITTSBURGH -- Baseball, man.
What an oddly torturous game.
"It's insane how baseball works," said Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams. "Baseball (stinks) at times. Baseball is weird. It's designed to break your heart."
This was just after Williams tossed eight shutout innings Wednesday night against the best team in baseball, only to be saddled with a no-decision -- and he wasn't even talking about himself.
He was talking about the other guy -- Dodgers starter Rich Hill, who, according to Elias Sports Bureau, had just become the first pitcher since Lefty Leifield of the 1906 Pirates to lose a game with nine or more innings pitched, one or fewer hits and no walks. I'm not sure if Joaquin Benoit was in the bullpen that night, but that's beside the point.
Point being this: Hill nearly pulled a Harvey Haddix before sustaining one of the hardest-luck losses you will ever see.
True, nobody will ever suffer a loss like the late Haddix did on May 26, 1959. He threw 12 perfect innings that night, after all, and pitchers these days consider it a success merely to survive half that many innings while giving up three earned runs.
Hill, however, is one of the few who could relate to how Haddix must have felt after losing on an unearned run in the 13th.
Haddix's line: 12 2/3 innings, 1 hit, no earned runs, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk.
Hill's line: 9 innings, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 10 strikeouts, no walks. He threw 99 pitches, 75 of them strikes and not many in the 90s.
A 37-year-old lefty, Hill carried a perfect game into the ninth and a no-hitter into the 10th when Josh Harrison lined a home run into the left-field bleachers, just past the glove of a leaping Curtis Granderson. It was the first time in baseball history that a walk-off home run broke up a no-hitter.
It was an oasis moment for the Pirates, a cheerful respite in the middle of what is shaping up to be a brutal late summer.
It was a blip for the Dodgers, who dropped all the way to 89-36.
But you had to feel for Hill.
Legend has it that Haddix was so distressed after his historic loss that he roamed the streets of Milwaukee until dawn. I didn't get the feeling Hill was going that route.
In fact, he seemed oddly at peace with the situation, even though it came just a year after he was pulled from a seven-inning perfect game against the Marlins because of a blister.
I wondered if Hill had ever heard of Haddix's tale -- he said no -- and then suggested he seemed to be taking only the positive out of what could be considered a soul-crushing loss.
"Absolutely," he said. "We have something bigger than any individual here that's going on. That's something we all realize and have to understand. Tomorrow's another day and a big day to come back and to win the series."
He made sure to add, "They played a great game, too."
It truly was a great game. Easily one of the best in PNC Park history. I had a plan for it going in -- something about the Pirates' championship window closing -- but I mentioned to colleague Gene Collier that I'd switch up if "somebody throws a no-hitter."
Remind me to never say that again.
Things got really tense in the late innings, as Williams nearly matched Hill pitch for pitch.
In the top of the eighth, Jordy Mercer prevented a Dodgers run with a leaping grab of Logan Forsythe's line drive, one that ended a 10-pitch at-bat. The crowd of 19,859 -- at least those not wearing Dodger blue -- roared. But Chase Utley outdid Mercer about five minutes later, when he somehow stretched his 38-year-old carcass to full capacity to snag Josh Bell's liner in the hole between first and second.
"Just to see him flying through the air and have the image burned in my head is pretty cool," Hill said with a laugh.
Hill struck out Sean Rodriguez on a questionable pitch to end the eighth, but he probably deserved a break after a curveball that appeared to hit the edge was called a ball earlier in the at-bat. At that point, it looked like Hill was destined to become the first pitcher to throw a perfect game against the Pirates.
"It felt like it was kinda meant to happen," said Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes.
But that was before Forsythe bobbled a Mercer grounder to lead off the ninth, ruining the perfect game. Hill handled that moment with class, as well, and later called Forsythe "our leader."
This all set the stage for Harrison, who has a flair for the dramatic. Remember when he broke up Justin Verlander's no-hit bid? On a 2-1 count, Hill threw him an 88-mph fastball down the middle, low in the zone -- an offering Harrison "didn't want to miss."
"Bad pitch," Hill said, matter-of-factly.
It might have been his only bad pitch of the night. And likely one he'll never forget.
Baseball, man.
Sports on 08/25/2017