Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Rich Hill pitched on Thursday night against the Marlins at Citi Field much like he has during his stint with the Mets in 2021. The pitcher affectionately known as Dick Mountain was making his 13th appearance (12th start) since coming to the Mets in a trade from the Rays.

The 41-year-old tossed a 1-2-3 first inning to get the Mets final home game of 2021 underway. He struck out two and worked around two baserunners in the second inning to keep the game scoreless.

After a Pete Alonso solo homer gave the Mets the lead in the bottom of the second, Hill found himself in trouble in the top of the third. Hill struck out the first two batters of the inning before a walk to Jazz Chisholm and two-run home run from Lewis Brinson gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the fourth, the veteran Hill have up another two-out run to give the Marlins another lead.

Hill put down a perfect sac bunt in the Mets four-run fourth inning that gave them a 6-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The lefty worked around two baserunners in the top of the fifth inning to finish out his 2021 season and potentially his time with the Mets.

Final Line: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 6 K

Hill finishes the season with a 3.86 ERA overall in 158 2/3 innings including a 3.84 ERA in 63 1/3 innings with the Mets. He also finished with a 4.01 FIP with the Mets and a 1.279 WHIP.

It was the 51st straight start that Hill pitched without giving up more than four runs, the third longest streak in major league history. The record is 61 games set by Ed Walsh from 1908 through 1910. Hill’s teammate Jacob deGrom is right behind him with a current 50-game streak of allowing four runs or less in each start.

Before Hill signed with the Rays last offseason, he negotiated with the Mets and that’s something that could happen this offseason too. “I know there’s a lot of special things that are gonna happen here and it would be something I would truly look forward to. Wherever it might be, it’s something I’m going to talk to my family about, ” Hill said.