Phil Hughes pitched a very solid game today through the first 5 innings, and lost his control in the sixth and was shown the exit, after giving up 5 earned runs, on 9 hits. Although he did get the lose, and his current record looks dismal at (0-3), he did pitch an improved game from his last outing. Even Girardi agrees that this was not a terrible outing. Hughes did find himself entering the sixth inning only having given up one run, and looked to be very comfortable out there on the mound. That’s when it all turned ugly, and fast. His ERA ballooned to 8.82 in this 97 pitch outing (60 strikes).
There was not much from the plate to speak of for the Yankees, as their bats were held pretty quiet. They managed to scrap together two runs (1 in the 5th, and 1 in the 7th), both coming off the bat of Moeller, who was catching today for Posada.
Things did not go the Yankees way today and they could not catch up from a damaging 7-run 6th inning. This is the second lose in a row for the club, and again they find themselves at .500. Things are going to need to turn around slightly in order to distance themselves from that .500 mark. Tomorrow is game 2 of 3, and the Yankees will be looking for the victory to force a rubber match.
