Prior to tonight’s game, Phil Hughes had been terrible at Fenway Park. It’s the ballpark he’s had the most trouble in so far in his career. So, of course, Hughes would come out and lead the Yankees to a 2-0 win over the Red Sox.
Hughes pitched into the eighth inning, gave up only five hits, walked one batter and struck out seven. He earned his 15th victory of the season and helped the Yankees remain in a first place tie with Baltimore atop the AL East standings.
The Yankees problem with runners in scoring position reared its ugly head again – they finished 2-34 RISP for the series – but thankfully Hughes, along with the bullpen, kept the Red Sox off the board.
Their first run was scored on an Andruw Jones sacrifice fly in the fourth inning off Red Sox starter Felix Doubront. Their second run was scored when Derek Jeter hit a bloop single to center in the seventh. It was the 3,283th hit of his career, tying him with Willie Mays on the all-time list.
Rounding out the offense were Alex Rodriguez and Eduardo Nunez who finished with two hits apiece. Curtis Granderson had a rough night at the dish, finishing 0-4 with three strikeouts and leaving five men on base all by himself.
Rafael Soriano earned his 38th save of the season and combined with Boone Logan and David Robertson to pitch 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Hughes. Hughes’s season ERA is now sitting at 3.96.
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4 Responses to Hughes Comes Up Big, Yankees Beat Red Sox 2-0
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TIQ IQ
Phil came up with a good combo of pitches tonight. Fastball emphasis (with good command), slider and changeup, plus an occasional curve. He’s got what he needs. It has taken a long time to develop, and the Yanks better hold onto him.
He’s growing up before our eyes *sniff*
Hughes pitched to a weak Red Sox line-up as if it was a weak line-up.
Hughes wasn’t pitching to a weak line-up – he was pitching to a line-up that is now closer to league average, but did have guys who can hit for power and guys who can hit for average. What he was not pitching to is the now-mythical combination of Ortiz and Ramirez, or even Gonzalez and Pedroia, but so what? The Red Sox did have able batters who would have hit Hughes if he didn’t have command – witness the screaming liner Ciriaco hit later in the game.
In the series, Hughes also surrendered the fewest runs of any of the Yankees starters against this supposedly weak line-up and in the last two seriesthe Yankees have played he has out-pitched any of his battery mates. Is he pitching Koufax-like? No, but he certainly is rising to the occasion.