Written by Greg Fertel
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26 April 2007
Well, I expected some jitters today, and we got what I expected. I think during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings we saw the dominant Hughes that we all knew was out there. During that time, he gave up 1 hit and 1 walk, striking out 3 and allowing no runs. But let's look at the times where he got in to trouble.
1st inning: Line drive single to Alex Rios. Stolen base. Strikeout to the #2 hitter. Double to a guy who just cashed in for 126 million dollars. Line drive single by a hall of famer. Then two consecutive groundouts to very good hitters.
5th inning: He allowed an infield single that was really an out, followed by a steal and a ground ball up the middle. He then struck out the #2 hitter, and allowed a line drive single to a guy who just cashed in for 126 million dollars, then a runner scored on a sacrifice fly to a hall of famer.
I'm willing to attribute the 1st inning to jitters (and Frank Thomas hitting a very good pitch), and the 2nd inning could very easily have been a 1-2-3. Only one ball was really hit hard. When Hughes got in his groove, he dominated. He can't catch the ball for Miguel Cairo or make the call for the 1st base umpire.
His curveball was a little off tonight. Hughes normally can pinpoint it for strikes, but just wasn't getting the call on the outside corner tonight. And hell, we weren't going to get a win off A.J. Burnett tonight. That guy can deal when he's on.
Hughes should get another start. I hope that the Yankees don't just look at "4 runs in 4+ innings" and send him down.
