The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Mets, 14-7, on Friday night, thanks in part to a historic effort on the mound from veteran Rich Hill.
The 43-year-old went seven innings on the mound, allowing two runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out six. He's now 6-5 and has an ERA of 4.23 for the season.
The effort was truly historic, as evidenced by Sarah Langs of MLB.com on Twitter:
Rich Hill’s 119 pitches are the most in a game by a pitcher at age 43 or older since
Tim Wakefield threw 119 on 6/14/11
It’s the most by a 43+ old non-knuckleballer since Jamie Moyer threw 122 on 7/21/07
1) That's very, very cool, first and foremost. Hill almost retired this offseason but elected to keep going. From almost retiring to throwing 119 pitches in a win? That's a good story.
2) This is also in stark contrast to what we've seen from Hill in the recent past. Last year with the Red Sox, Hill was frequently pulled by the fifth inning or earlier, and certainly wasn't allowed to go 119 pitches!
For his career, Hill is 88-64 with a 3.87 ERA. He's now tossed more than 1,330 career innings.
He's in his 19th year in the major leagues, and it's been quite a journey in the majors. He's played for the Red Sox for five years, the Dodgers and Cubs for four years each and then has spent one season with the Twins, Mets, Rays, Angels, Athletics, Guardians, Yankees, Orioles and Pirates.
Some of those years were partial years, but add it all up, 19 years and going strong.
The Pirates will play the Mets again on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. ET.
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