The Yankees’ original plan was to keep Phil Hughes at Triple-A all season. Last night, that’s where he looked like he belonged.
The rookie looked every bit like a 21-year-old as the Devil Rays battered him for five runs on seven hits in 41/3 innings. The Yankees’ offense didn’t help him out, either, managing two hits against Tampa Bay starter Andy Sonnanstine in a 9-1 loss.
The 53,275 fans at Yankee Stadium came looking to continue the good feeling that grew during this week’s sweep of the Red Sox. Instead, they were subjected to an ugly loss to the worst team in baseball.
It meant the Yankees remained five games behind Boston, which lost to Baltimore last night, in the AL East. The Yankees failed to increase their one-game wild-card lead on Seattle, which lost in Toronto.
The pitching woes that went away for three days against the Red Sox came roaring back last night. Hughes had his third straight bad outing and his fourth consecutive outing where he didn’t register a victory. He had four walks to go with four strikeouts and four earned runs.
“Every start seems like it’s something new,” Hughes said of his struggles. “If it was one specific thing, I could go and work on it. One night it’s home runs, one night it’s walks, tonight it was a mix of everything. . . . Right now we’re in a spot where every game means a lot. It’s not the best time to go on a skid.”
It was clear from the start Hughes didn’t have it last night. He gave up a double to Akinori Iwamura to lead off the game. Carl Crawford then knocked in Iwamura with a single to right.
“It just looked like he was a little tentative,” Joe Torre said. “That wasn’t a good outing for him tonight.”
Hughes sailed through the second inning but found trouble again in the third, this time with a little help from his defense. With the bases loaded, Delmon Young hit a sacrifice fly to right field. The throw home was not in time to get Iwamura, scoring from third. Yankees catcher Jorge Posada charged second base where Carlos Pena was off the bag. He then turned toward B.J. Upton, who was between first and second.
Posada looked like he had Upton when he gunned a throw to second baseman Robinson Cano. But the ball bounced off Cano’s glove and caromed into the stands, allowing Pena to score.
Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry wore a path to the mound visiting Hughes. Guidry went to the mound in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings to chat up the pitcher. Hughes kept falling behind in the count and left his breaking ball up throughout the night.
Hughes and Posada looked out of synch on several balls. One in the third inning brought a meeting to the mound because Posada appeared to have no idea what Hughes was throwing.
“He shouldn’t be missing the zone like he’s been missing,” Torre said.
Sonnanstine, a 24-year-old rookie, baffled the Yankees, striking out five and walking none. He gave up hits in the first and fourth innings, then shut them down. He retired 14 batters in a row after a fourth-inning single by Alex Rodriguez that scored Derek Jeter with the Yanks’ lone run, which was unearned.
“He was throwing it everywhere,” Yankees DH Johnny Damon said of Sonnanstine. “Up, down, in, out and he was hitting his spots. He did exactly what he needed to do.”
Pena, who was in the Yankees’ minor league system in 2006, led off the fifth inning with a home run to right field. Pena added another homer in the sixth off reliever Chris Britton. They were Pena’s fourth and fifth home runs against the Yankees this season.