KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Orioles closer George Sherrill walked slowly past starter Rich Hill's locker after the club's 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night and turned.
"Welcome back to the show," Sherrill deadpanned to Hill. "It's that easy, huh?"
All Hill could do was smile.
That's likely what Hill will be doing for the next several days.
"It was satisfying in a lot of ways," said Hill, who in his first big league start since May 2, 2008, held the Royals to seven hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings for his first win in 13 months. He struck out six.
"It was fantastic," Orioles catcher Chad Moeller said. "You couldn't be happier for the guy. He came in and threw a gem. It was one of our best-pitched games of the year. Pure and simple."
It's been a long, bumpy climb for Hill, who won 11 games for the Chicago Cubs in 2007 but experienced a disaster last year, dealing with injuries and an inability to throw strikes. Once considered a future mainstay of the Cubs' rotation, he was shipped to the Orioles this February for future considerations.
And before he had a chance to show his new team what he could do, he was felled by elbow soreness that forced him to the disabled list in March.
Instead of being bitter, Hill, 29, is looking at the past year as a learning experience.
"You have to learn patience and understand that the trials I went through last year, and to get to the point I am this year, without learning that patience, I might not be standing here right now in front of you after that game."
Mixing a table-dropping curveball with a changeup and a 90 mph fastball, Hill kept the Royals hitters off balance. With the help of two double plays, Hill faced the minimum number of hitters heading into the fourth - his only trouble spot.
The first two Royals in the inning singled and moved to second and third on a double steal. Hill retired the following two batters and then walked Jose Guillen intentionally after throwing three consecutive balls.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Alberto Callaspo hit a line drive that landed on the left-field foul line, sprayed chalk and bounced into the corner to tie the score at 2. The well-placed shot could have been a three-run double, but Guillen, one of baseball's slowest runners, stopped at third.
He and Callaspo were stranded when Miguel Olivo flied out to left.
