Hill proves to be worth the wait for Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — A year removed from the likes of David Price and Cole Hamels finding new homes at baseball’s July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline, contenders scrambled this year, hoping to get lucky in finding a veteran arm who could fill a stretch-run void.

By the time this year’s non-waiver Trade Deadline of Aug. 1 has passed, contending teams had taken a gamble on 11 available pitchers hoping to fill rotation voids. The Giants came up with Matt Moore, an All-Star with the Rays in 2013, and Drew Pomeranz, the Padres All-Star rep this year, found himself joining the Red Sox.

Nothing underscored the nature of the market as much as the Dodgers giving up three prime prospects to acquire outfielder Josh Reddick and left-hander Rich Hill, both potential free agents at season’s end, from the A’s. And they did it knowing there was no definite timeline as to when the blister on his left hand that had sidelined Hill would subside enough for him to pitch.

Twenty-three days removed from his acquisition, 37 days since he last took the mound in a Major League game, and 47 days since he last faced a hitter in a game, Hill finally made that Dodger debut on Wednesday night.

And nobody with the Dodgers was complaining.

Hill worked six innings in a 1-0 victory against the Giants in the second game of a three-game series between the two teams battling for the National League West title, putting the Dodgers three games up on the Giants for the first time this season in what is easily the most impressive effort from any of those 11 starting pitchers who found new homes in the past month.

“This was the first …

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