Perfect game or not, Dave Roberts must think about the Dodgers' big picture

Jesse Spector

Perfect game or not, Dave Roberts must think about the Dodgers' big picture image

The Dodgers acquired Rich Hill from the A's at the trade deadline to try to win the team's first World Series since 1988.

Hill had been sidelined by a blister since July 17 and did not pitch for the Dodgers until Aug. 24, when he threw 81 pitches over six scoreless innings against the Giants.

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The next time Hill started for Los Angeles was last Saturday, when he threw 89 pitches in six scoreless innings against the Padres.

In that context, it made perfect sense for Dave Roberts to pull Hill from his third start as a Dodger after 89 pitches over seven scoreless frames Saturday night in Miami. It's Hill's third start with the team, none of which has been on regular rest, and if you push him to 100-plus pitches with a five-run lead, then lose him for more important games, you are a bad manager.

The tough thing here, of course, is that Hill didn't just throw seven scoreless frames. He was working on a perfect game.

Joe Blanton gave up a two-out single to Jeff Francoeur in the eighth inning and that was that for history, but not for the debate over Roberts' move, which was consistent with his hook for Ross Stripling in the rookie's debut in April while bidding for a no-hitter.

Roberts' job is to look at the big picture, and Hill is a big part of that big picture. Champagne has a way of easing hurt feelings, and that is what the first-year skipper has to bank on, because Hill knows as well as anyone that chances for a perfect game are extremely rare.

It was 20 years ago that David Cone returned from the disabled list with an aneurysm to throw seven innings of no-hit ball for the Yankees, only to have future Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre remove him for Mariano Rivera, who came two outs from finishing the job in Oakland. 

That story ended well for everyone involved. The Yankees won the 1996 World Series, with Cone playing a key role, and Cone threw a perfect game against the Expos in 1999.
 

Jesse Spector