DETROIT — Phil Hughes said he felt “great” leading up to Tuesday night’s start against the Tigers in Game 3 of the ALCS.
That didn’t last long.
The right-hander exited the game three batters into the fourth inning with a stiff lower back and was replaced by David Phelps in a 2-1 loss.
“I wanted to stay in,” Hughes said. “It wasn’t so bad I couldn’t stay in. Obviously, with the circumstances of the game, they decided to take me out. … It was the best move for the team, not necessarily for my health.”
Details aside, Hughes said leaving the game so early was “disappointing.”
You could say that.
“I feel like I let the guys down,” Hughes said.
Before his departure, Hughes had been solid, matching Justin Verlander scoreless inning for scoreless inning, if not pitch for pitch, through the first three frames.
But in the bottom of the fourth, Hughes gave up a leadoff home run to Yankees-killer Delmon Young to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
He followed by walking Andy Dirks, and with Jhonny Peralta at the plate, pitching coach Larry Rothschild, manager Joe Girardi and trainer Steve Donohue went out to the mound and took Hughes out after just 61 pitches.
Phelps got out of the inning, but gave up an unearned run in the fifth, as the bullpen pitched well in a losing effort.
Hughes’ injury was just another blow to the reeling Yankees, who were looking for a strong performance, especially with their non-existent offense.
The homer by Young may have been enough to finish off the Yankees, since they haven’t been able to generate runs against anyone, let alone the AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner from 2011.
And with CC Sabathia starting tonight’s Game 4, the Yankees shouldn’t need much help from the bullpen — and if they do, the series may be a lost cause, anyway.
The Yankees’ starting pitching had been one of their few strong points of these playoffs.
Hughes’ results were inconsistent this season, but he was able to stay on the mound after battling injury problems in 2011.
Last night, he didn’t seem to be having any difficulties the first three innings. He pitched around a single and a walk in the first and did the same in the third — including getting Prince Fielder to fly to center on a 3-0 pitch.
It proved to be the final highlight of Hughes’ night.
dan.martin@nypost.com