Rich Hill looks rusty after layoff in 6-1 loss to Cardinals

The disdain dripped from Rich Hill’s voice. He is an introspective man, but this was not self-deprecation. It was self-loathing, the only emotion he could muster after plummeting the Dodgers into an early deficit in a 6-1 loss to St. Louis.

“I was just terrible tonight,” Hill said. “Honestly, it was embarrassing.”

Appearing after an eight-day layoff, Hill looked lost on the mound, when he wasn’t infuriated with the umpiring. He issued a career-high seven walks as he allowed five runs in four innings. Manager Dave Roberts pulled Hill after two runs had scored in the fifth.

Hill boils with intensity on the mound. On Wednesday, his emotion caused Roberts to leave the dugout to try to steady the pitching. Hill flings curveballs with imagination and verve. His lackluster execution Wednesday prompted Roberts to wonder if Hill’s blisters had returned.

Hill stressed that his finger did not compromise his outing. His delivery did, he explained. With his body not cooperating, he planned to spend the weekend tinkering with his mechanics to recapture mastery of his pitches.

“I take full responsibility,” he said. “I just gave them the game.”

After a stirring extra-inning victory Tuesday, the Dodgers (27-20) looked feeble against Cardinals starter Mike Leake. He yielded four hits and a sacrifice fly by Cody Bellinger in the seventh inning.

By then, Hill had already combusted.

Hill considers himself a creature of habit, requiring extensive sessions to maintain the feel of his fastball and curve. His team’s current strategy, which tries to fit six or seven starting pitchers into a rotation meant for five, forces deviation from routine.

It also stems from a place of caution. Hill has undergone multiple operations on his left arm. He fits in with his fellow starters. Alex Wood required elbow surgery last summer. Brandon McCarthy underwent an elbow reconstruction in 2015. Hyun-Jin Ryu wrecked his shoulder that same year. None of these men, the Dodgers reason, should attempt to throw 200 innings.

In the ideal world, the blueprint carries these pitchers into October after avoiding excessive strain in the regular season. On nights like Wednesday, the team must watch a pitcher like Hill look rusty and aggravated, unable to command his pitches or find a rhythm.

“We saw a little of this in spring training, but since the season started, very uncharacteristic of Rich,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it was blister-related. We’ll talk about that.”

The Dodgers adapted before the game, when infielder Chris Taylor got penciled into the lineup as an outfielder. The assignment stemmed from the previous night’s brutal collision between Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson, which left Pederson temporarily sidelined with a strained neck.

A day later, the accident served as fodder for humor. Soon after Puig entered the clubhouse, he spotted Pederson talking to reporters.

“Joc! I’m too strong for you,” Puig said.

“Puig was really soft,” Pederson replied. “The wall was really hard.”

Pederson had passed a concussion protocol Tuesday. His forehead bore a scab Wednesday.

Roberts maintained optimism about Pederson avoiding the disabled list, but did not provide a timetable for his return.

The situation accelerated the percolating plan to use Taylor in the outfield. As a middle infielder for most of his career, Taylor felt comfortable reading the ball in center field, the most physically demanding of the three positions. The game found him immediately. On the second pitch of the night, Taylor thudded into the wall to snag a drive from St. Louis outfielder Dexter Fowler.

An out secured, Hill breezed through the first. The inning lasted five pitches. The next inning required 36. Hill walked three of the first four batters in the inning before Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong slashed a two-run single.

As the walks piled up, Yasmani Grandal separated Hill from a discussion with plate umpire Rob Drake, as Hill felt he was being squeezed on curves at the top of the strike zone. Grandal visited the mound twice. So did first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. So did pitching coach Rick Honeycutt.

“I know he’s an emotional pitcher,” Roberts said. “But you’ve still got to compose yourself in some capacity and execute pitches.”

The advice did not help. Neither did a conversation with Drake before the top of the third inning. Hill walked Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter and gave up a single to third baseman Jedd Gyorko. Roberts came to the mound to counsel Hill to stow his anger.

Hill slipped out of trouble and completed the fourth without incident. In the fifth, though, his control slipped. A leadoff walk by outfielder Stephen Piscotty opened the door. Up next, Carpenter bunted for a single. The end was approaching.

The final pitch Hill threw was an 89-mph fastball. It was a strike, at least. But it arrived at the belt of Gyorko. He raked a single into left. Bellinger overran the baseball, letting two runs to score. Gyorko came home in the next at-bat, when Ross Stripling allowed a sacrifice fly. By then, Hill had already landed on the bench.

“It’s unacceptable,” Hill said. “It’s a tough thing to swallow.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes