The Yankees’ eight-game win streak came to an end today at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the long ball. Phil Hughes looked sharp in the early innings, but struggled to put hitters away with two strikes. In the first inning, after striking out Jose Bautista, Hughes gave up a two run home run to Vernon Wells on an 0-2 count. In the third inning he gave up another two run homer on an 0-2 count to Aaron Hill. It was 4-0 at that point, which would have made it more than enough to beat the Yankees today, but Toronto added three more runs for good measure, including a home run to John Buck, making it three on the day.
Brett Cecil was good but not great. He lasted 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on 102 pitches. Had Hughes been stronger that would have been enough to keep the Yankees in the game. Both young pitchers lasted at least six innings, but Hughes gave up a total of six runs over that time. Sergio Mitre allowed one run to score in his 2.2 innings of work.
Alex Rodriguez made his return in this game. He did well. A-Rod went 2-5 with an RBI. Alex also struck out looking to end the game, so he’s picking up where he left off. The pitch was actually a ball. Alex didn’t say anything, but Michael Kay did, exclaiming that the umpire probably wanted to get home.
The string of matinees continues tomorrow at one p.m. The Buck Showalter fueled Baltimore Orioles come to the Bronx to end the longest Yankee homestand of the season with a three game set. Normally this would be an easy opportunity for the Yankees to pick up three quick wins before hitting the road, but Baltimore’s play has been inspired since Showalter became the team’s manager and spiritual leader. The Orioles beat the Rays yesterday and clung to an 8-7 victory today. The victory keeps Tampa 2.5 games behind the Yankees, but serves as a reminder that these are not the Orioles from the beginning of the season.
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5 Responses to Toronto hits three home runs against Phil Hughes, snaps Yankee win streak
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TIQ IQ
Not sure which game you were watching my friend, but I thought Phil looked anything but sharp in the early going — 54 pitches through three innings is pretty much the exact opposite of sharp.
Those two 0-2 two-run homers were deadly, especially the pitch to Wells, which was a meatball right down the middle. Not sure what Franchise was thinking there, considering Wells is the owner and sole proprietor of Phil Hughes.
Additionally, true to form, the Toronto Extra Base Hits pounded Phil for SIX XBHs. Blech.
I suppose the only solace is that Girardi and Hughes apparently felt that Phil's stuff was reasonable outside of the two 0-2 mistake pitches, but digging the team a 4-0 hole by the third inning is still pretty bad.
Also, thanks to Phil and Brett Cecil for continuing to make me look clairvoyant in the series previews:
"Between Phil Hughes' recent difficulties in finishing hitters off and Cecil's ownership of the Yanks, this is pretty close to a guaranteed Toronto win."
Why oh why can't the Yankees hit Brett freaking Cecil of all pitchers? Oh right, because his fastball is 88 mph.
Hughes seems to have hit the wall
This time its the HR ball instead of the walk five walks previous two starts
Two HRs on 0-2 pitches?
Lets hope AJ continues from last start
Yankee pithcers other than CC are throwing too many pitches early in the games.
What are we going to do in the playoffs with these starters?
Phil looked decent to me, except on a few pitches. Sharp was probably a bit too far. (I wrote the recap while watching the post game show, so I parrotted the YES crew's optimism a bit too much.)
I do feel he may need a break. I know this is the opposite of what I wrote earlier, but Phil's fastball never topped 92 on the gun. He can hit 95. Perhaps it's time?
It all hinges on Andy Pettitte. With him the team has a fighting chance if the offense is decent. Without him the Yankees may be toast in October.
[...] year at this time they were able to run their season-high winning streak to eight before the Jays finally snapped it in the Sunday matinee. That would actually prove to be something of a turning point for the 2010 Yankees’ season [...]