Former Yankee Raul Ibanez (above) also hit a grand slam in the disastrous inning.
UGLY! A dejected Phil Hughes walks off the mound after giving up seven runs in the first inning of the Yankees’ 12-2 loss to the Mariners last night. Former Yankee Raul Ibanez (inset) also hit a grand slam in the disastrous inning. (Paul J. Bereswill)
UGLY! A dejected Phil Hughes walks off the mound after giving up seven runs in the first inning of the Yankees’ 12-2 loss to the Mariners last night. Former Yankee Raul Ibanez (inset) also hit a grand slam in the disastrous inning. (Paul J. Bereswill; Reuters (inset))
Phil Hughes has had ugly starts before.
Just over a month ago, he was knocked out of a start against Baltimore when he gave up five runs without retiring a batter in the fourth.
After that game, he stood in front of his locker and said, “I can’t remember the last time I was as bad as that.”
He likely won’t forget about this one anytime soon.
The right-hander recorded just two outs and surrendered seven runs in two-thirds of an inning in one of the worst starts in franchise history in a 12-2 loss to the Mariners at The Stadium.
“My fastball was over the middle of the plate,” Hughes said. “When I tried to go to my changeup, slider, curve ball, it seemed like nothing was there, nothing I could go to.’’
Things got so bad, manager Joe Girardi resorted to using shortstop Alberto Gonzalez, who was just picked up off the scrap heap, to get the final out.
“We’ve got guys playing out of position with a chance to get hurt,” Hughes said of Vernon Wells, who was at second base in the ninth and Chris Stewart at first. “Nobody feels worse about it than I do.”
Now, Hughes will have to figure out how to fix the problem.
“It’s fastball location,” Stewart said. “When he’s throwing it where it needs to be, guys are going to mishit it. … Tonight his fastball was right down the middle, and they didn’t miss them.’’
That includes the newest Yankees-killer, Raul Ibanez, whose first-inning grand slam gave the Mariners a 6-0 lead.
“I felt if I could get a ground ball, it’s two runs and maybe I can figure something out and give us a few innings,” Hughes said. “That was the killer.”
Ibanez, who had just three homers coming into the series, hit another in the fifth and has three in the last two games and by the end of the night, the former Yankees playoff hero, after a warm first-inning reception, was being booed.
As for Hughes, chances are, he was never going to be long for this game because his start was over before some fans got to their seats.
“He was just up,” Girardi said. “If you start long enough, you’re going to have one of these nights.”
“Everything speeds up,” Hughes said. “You’re trying to find something and the next thing you know, you’ve got two outs and seven runs are in. … You’re basically giving the game away in the first inning.”
Preston Claiborne finished the first and pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, and Brett Marshall — making his major-league debut — gave up five runs, but lasted 5 2/3 innings in his 108-pitch outing to help save the bullpen.
The Yankees got homers from Wells and Stewart off Hisashi Iwakuma (5-1), but little else.
Not that it mattered.
“It’s going to be tough to sleep the next couple nights,” said Hughes, who coughed up six runs in 5 2/3 innings in Kansas City in his previous outing. “I got the win last time, but that had nothing to do with me. I look at it as two bad ones in a row.”
Hughes’ inconsistency is something the Yankees have dealt with before.
“This is a one-in-a-hundred type thing,” Hughes said following the shortest outing of his career and the briefest since Bartolo Colon gave up eight runs in two-thirds of an inning in Toronto on July 14, 2011.
“I’ve had bad nights, where I get 12 outs, but I can’t remember an outing like this before,” Hughes said. “It’s tough to swallow.”