Rich Hill Shelled in 3rd Venezuelan Outing

After a solid debut, it's turned ugly for Rich Hill, pitching for los Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League. After falling apart in the 4th inning of his second start (Sunday), Hill returned to the mound Friday night. Against Magallenes, the same team he faced his first time out for Aragua, Hill barely got out of the first inning.

The lefty struck-out one, but gave up six earned runs on five hits and two walks in the first inning. And Rich threw a wild pitch. Granted, only one hit went for extra bases (a double), and one was an infield single.

In the bottom half, two of Hill's Cubs-mates came to the plate to face Victor "They Traded Me for Scott Kazmir" Zambrano. Sam Fuld hit a lead-off home run, and Ronny Cedeno grounded out 1-3 for the 2nd out of the frame.

Hill came out for the 2nd inning, and, like the first, gave up a lead-off single. This time to Edgardo Alfonzo, who is one of the leading hitters in the VWL. Fonzie managed to get caught stealing, but was quickly replaced, courtesy of Hill's third free pass of the night.

Richard Hidalgo was due up, but the game was stopped due to rain. I'll update this post after it resumes. UPDATE play had resumed, neither starter returned. Hill's unofficial ERA is 7.84 in 10.1 innings.