Rich Hill threw eight innings of three run ball tonight in the Cubs' 9-3 win over the Diamondbacks, finally showing some of the promise he has displayed at Iowa. Hill threw 75 strikes out his 110 pitches, displaying the kind of control he needs to have in order to be successful. He walked just one and struck out six. Hill became the only Cubs starter pitcher this year not named Carlos Zambrano to throw eight innings in a game (ed.: correction: Greg Maddux threw one eight inning game this year). It no doubt helped Hill that the Cubs' offense scored seven runs in the first three innings in an unusual power display, including Matt Murton's fifth home run of the year. Murton is going to need to hit a few more of those in order to convince Jim Hendry to not go after a leftfielder in the offseason.