PITTSBURGH -- Rich Hill treated the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 99-pitch clinic Wednesday night. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say he subjected them to it. Hill overwhelmed Pittsburgh hitters with his 90-mph fastball, alternately froze and made them wave at his curveball, and flummoxed them for nine innings in the most Tom Browning- and Mark Buehrle-esque of ways.
The outing was a real treat for connoisseurs of pitching craftsmanship, and what remained of the announced crowd of 19,859 at PNC Park had to feel for Hill when pitch No. 99 cast a blot over the proceedings.