PITTSBURGH — Rich Hill was livid with a rarely-called first-inning balk. Turns out, his wouldn’t be the only one of the game.
Both he and reliever Jose Hernandez were called for balks that allowed Rangers runners to score from third as Texas went on to win Tuesday night’s game at PNC Park by a 6-1 tally. Hill found himself in trouble in the first inning after Jack Suwinski got a late break on a line drive to center by leadoff man Marcus Semien.
Suwinski made a delayed charge, perhaps due to momentarily losing the ball in the sun, and it rolled all the way to the center-field wall. Hill was on the verge of being able to limit the damage to just one run on Corey Seager’s subsequent single. But after recording two quick outs, Hill appeared to pitch too quickly to Jonah Heim and was called for a balk, in turn plating the Rangers’ second run.
