Cleveland Rocks

Hughes was back on the mound last night for the Yankees, taking a loss against Cleveland.  It was his first time pitching in the majors since April 14^th and although he labored through the start, he kept the Yankees within reach.  All in all, it wasn’t a bad night for Phil Hughes but he can certainly do better.

Hughes pitched 5 full innings last night and used 87 pitches in the process.  I am sure he could have gone out and started the 6^th, but the yanks were being cautious with the young pitcher as it was only his first night back.  Hughes had a tough time in the first inning giving up 2 runs and throwing over 30 pitches.  From the 2^nd inning through the 5^th he settled in and kept his pitch count down but had some issues putting batters away.  It seems that from the 2^nd through 5^th inning, Hughes had favorable counts like 0-2, but was unable to throw an “out” pitch.  This could have been due to his control which seemed to be a problem the whole night for Hughes, especially with his fastball which was up in the zone.  There were points during the game where Hughes looked like AJ Burnett.  He was having problems with location but battling through it, yet never able to dominate a batter after getting ahead in the count.  Either way, I think the Yankees know that Hughes will just build off this start.

Hughes was not having any of the issues which sent him to the DL in April.  His velocity was around 92 mph all night.  Sometimes he hit 93 and sometimes was around 91, but even in the fifth inning he still had significant velocity and never looked like he ran out of gas.  Ultimately, he pitched 5 innings and allowed only 2 runs (both in the tough 1^st inning) and gave up six singles.  When men were on base after the 1^st inning, Hughes was able to make some good pitches and got himself out of jams.  It was like he was walking a tightrope all night.  He threw mostly fastballs & cutters but he even through a few changeups during the night which were very impressive.  When he left the game, the Yanks were trailing 2-0 against a tough pitcher, Justin Masterson.  Hughes kept them in the game and never let it get out of hand, but ultimately the bullpen faltered which kept the yanks from making a 9^th inning comeback.

Logan who has been doing pretty well lately, especially against lefty batters, gave up a home run to a rookie lefty.  Although he gave up the homer, he did get a few big outs.  My real issue came with Sergio Mitre in the bottom of the 8^th.  At that point, the Yankees were trailing 3-0 and all he had to do was pitch one strong inning so the Yanks could try to make a 9^th inning comeback as Masterson was being pulled from the game.  Masterson dominated the Yankees all night and only allowed three hits, but he wasn’t going to pitch the ninth and the Yankees could have capitalized on the Indians pulling their Ace.  Unfortunately, Mitre gave up two runs after loading up the bases by allowing 2 walks and a hit.  Then he walks in a run, and following that he allows a sac fly.  Before the Yankees come to bat for the final time, the score is 5-0 and any chance for a comeback was virtually lost.  It’s much easier to make a 3 run comeback than a 5 run comeback and the Yankees actually managed to put up 3 runs in the top of the ninth but it was not enough and they took the loss.  Mitre’s two runs changed this game and caused the loss. 

I am not sure why Mitre is on the team as I originally was under the impression that he was going to be a long man out of the bullpen who might make a few spot starts should the Yankees have an issue with their rotation.  But last night, Mitre was used for 1.1 innings rather than as a long man.  If Noesi is the Yankees long man and has done pretty well, then what do they need a second long man for?  Especially Mitre, who has repeatedly shown that he is inconsistent.  Last night didn’t help Mitre’s case much either as he can’t be trusted in close games.  The Yankees have a pretty good bullpen that seems to be going through some injuries right now, but Mitre isn’t the solution.  As a fan I would rather see the Yankees try using younger guys within the system for this role rather than trying out the recycled Mitre who has been released by the A’s and the Brewers and traded by the Yankees as they considered him expendable. 

Side Note:  Jeter got another big double last night.  Similar to his double on Tuesday, Jeter had a solid hit deep in the outfield off Masterson.  Masterson only gave up three hits on the entire night and Jeter had one of them.  He is now only 3 hits away from 3000!