BOSTON — Scott Podsednik, as good a representative as anyone for this shell of a Red Sox lineup, swung through a Phil Hughes fastball in the sixth inning last night, continuing a display of home-team futility at Fenway Park.
For Hughes, the K represented something greater. His 147th strikeout of 2012 set a personal best for a single season, surpassing his 2010 total of 146. That it came amidst a crucial, 2-0 shutdown of the rival Red Sox, albeit a diminished foe — allowing the Yankees to keep pace with the Orioles atop the American League East — made it all the greater.
“It’s not really that many,” Hughes said, laughing, of his strikeout total. “Hopefully I can add a few more onto that.”
Manager Joe Girardi’s group began its work shift knowing the Orioles outlasted the Rays in 14 innings, 3-2, jumping a half-game ahead of the Yankees into the AL East penthouse. A second straight victory — their first multi-game winning streak since they won three straight from Aug. 13 to Aug. 15 — would be necessary to avoid second place.
Hughes responded by going 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and a walk while striking out seven. Again, a lineup already diminished by trades and injuries looked even weaker without Dustin Pedroia, who took the night off to be with his wife and newborn son. Yet a pitcher doesn’t choose the hitters he faces, so you tip your cap to Hughes for making the assignment seem as easy as it should have been. And then you take a step back, look at his entire campaign and salute, well, his competence.
“He’s started to use his head,” Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said after the game. “He started to think his way through situations a little more.”
On a team that has appeared old and broken down lately, seeing its 10-game division advantage whittle down to zero, Hughes is the rare rising stock. No, it doesn’t look like the 26-year-old (he’s about 2 1/2 months younger than Felix Hernandez) will become the ace the Yankees once projected him to be. Yet with the rest of this season and all of 2013 to go before he’s eligible for free agency, Hughes has re-established himself as a starting pitcher with value.
It hasn’t garnered much attention because Hughes has been pitching well, but his velocity is down lately. According to BrooksBaseball.Net, Hughes averaged 91.31 mph on his four-seam fastball last night, down slightly from his average of 91.52 on Sept 7 in Baltimore. He entered the night averaging 92.2 mph for the season, according to FanGraphs.
In the past, even such a subtle drop might have doomed Hughes. In his last handful of starts, however, he has integrated a slider into his repertoire, using it against right-handed batters to keep them honest, and that has helped him work through the flat period.
“As long as he’s pitching with it, that’s fine,” Rothschild said. “But you can’t throw with that. You’ve got to pitch.”
We know that wins are a poor measure for pitchers. Nevertheless, Hughes’ team-leading 15 victories signify his taking the ball every fifth day and providing some innings. He also lowered his ERA to 3.96. Most significantly, he’s at 148 strikeouts and 40 walks for the season, giving him an impressive 3.7 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. That’s the best of his big-league career, better even than his 2009 stint (2.52) as a setup reliever.
So the Yankees headed home having completed this three-city road trip at 5-5, after beginning it 0-2 and 1-3; their current two-game winning streak represents their first run of multiple wins since Aug. 13-15 against Texas. Their bullpen is approaching the deep-fried stage, their hitting with runners in scoring position remains problematic and questions loom about the health of their two veteran lefty starters CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte.
In this sort of September, though, you survive and advance.
“We have a resilient group,” Girardi said. “I’ve said that all along.”
Their once fragile starting pitcher might just be getting tougher, as well. His timing couldn’t be better.