Hughes Shines Against Former Team, Twins Beat Yankees 10-1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The New York Yankees had their chances against former teammate Phil Hughes in the series opener against Minnesota.
Each time they threatened, Hughes responded to give his offense enough time to pile on the runs.
Hughes pitched seven shutout innings against his former team and Miguel Sano hit one of Minnesota's four home runs in the Twins' 10-1 victory over the Yankees on Friday night.
Hughes (9-6) gave up seven hits, struck out three and wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Trevor Plouffe went 3 for 4 with a homer and a double and Torii Hunter and Brian Dozier also went deep for the Twins.
"I don't want to take anything away from Phil, but we hit the ball pretty hard tonight," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "They happened to be standing where we hit it and made some really good plays behind him. ... I thought we hit the ball a lot better than one run."
Michael Pineda (9-7) gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Yankees, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Mark Teixeira had three hits for New York (53-42), which fell to 23-25 on the road.
Stephen Drew knocked in the only run of the game for the Yankees on a single in the ninth, long after the game was decided.
The Yankees lead the majors in first-inning runs and nearly pounced again thanks to back-to-back singles from Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira. But once Hughes got Brian McCann to pop out to first base, it was smooth sailing.
The big right-hander retired, 15 of the next 17 hitters he faced, then loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. After a brief conversation, manager Paul Molitor left Hughes in to face Jacboy Ellsbury, and he rewarded the faith by getting Ellsbury to pop out to left field to end the inning.
It was the first time in nine starts — dating back to June 3 — that Hughes has not given up a homer.
"He was good," McCann said. "I thought we hit a lot of balls hard tonight and couldn't really get anything going off him. He had some quick innings and he was spotting up."
Hughes spent his first seven seasons in New York, coming in as a highly touted prospect in 2007. He represented the Yankees in the All-Star game in 2010, but never really lived up to the hype that Yankees fans had for him.
Hughes made the move to Minnesota last season and found comfort in the smaller market and bigger ballpark. He went 16-10 with a 3.52 ERA, walked just 16 batters in 209 2/3 innings and signed a five-year, $58 million deal in the offseason.
But this season has been more of a struggle, with a league-leading 23 homers allowed in in his first 19 starts of the season. And he was facing a Yankees offense that scored nine in the finale against Baltimore on Thursday, led the majors in first-inning runs and contributed to a 12-4 start to July.
"It's still a little weird. I know a lot of those guys over there," Hughes said. "I faced them twice last year. It's different. We don't see these guys a lot. But I think the more important thing was we got the win tonight."
PINEDA FALTERS
The Yankees starter has pitched well this season, but has now given up nine earned runs in his past two starts. He also failed to reach the sixth for the first time in five starts.
"Well it's a little frustrating for me because I want to win the game," Pineda said. "I want to pitch good and help my team. I don't have control for this situation, so I keep in my head continue working hard and go back to pitching good and help my team."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: OF Byron Buxton (sprained left thumb) has been playing catch and taking some outfield over the last couple of days, Molitor said. Buxton also took some swings under water to try to build up some strength in his hand as he continues to work his way back.
UP NEXT
The Yankees will send LHP CC Sabathia (4-8, 5.25) to the mound to face LHP Tommy Milone (5-2, 3.38). The struggling Sabathia had a nice start out of the break, striking out seven in a 2-1 win over the Mariners. He is 3-0 with a 2.86 ERA in three starts at Target Field. Milone had a 1.62 ERA in six straight quality starts before getting knocked around in a 14-1 loss to Oakland earlier this week. He gave up five runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings.
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