TORONTO — Chalk up another unconventional win for the H&H Connection, the Phil Hughes/David Huff tag-team pitching combination that has now delivered two Yankees victories in as many tandem appearances.
Hughes was the nominal starter for Wednesday’s 4-3 win over the Blue Jays, but manager Joe Girardi made it clear before the game he would be keeping the right-hander on a short leash. Sure enough, Hughes was pulled after just 3¹/₃ innings, immediately after he allowed a two-run homer to Colby Rasmus.
Huff then entered, and was nearly perfect over his 3 ²/₃ innings. The left-hander allowed just one hit, though it was a big one — a solo homer to Blue Jays second baseman Ryan Goins that put the Yankees in a 3-0 deficit.
“Coming into that game you’re just trying to get outs and get it to our late-inning guys,” Huff said. “I was trying to get aggressive and [on a 3-2 count], I go to that pitch 100 percent of the time. It was just bad location. It was up, it was middle and it was right in his bat path. I’ve just got to get it down next time and it’ll be there.”
Fortunately, the duo kept the score close enough until the Yankees lineup busted out for four runs in the top of the eighth to pick up a key victory. Huff earned his third win of the season.
Girardi used the Hughes-Huff combo last Thursday in Baltimore, with each allowing one run over three innings to help the Yankees notch a 6-5 win. Though it’s unusual a starting pitcher has so little room for error, Hughes said he understands the strategy.
“At this part of the season you’re trying to make every move possible to avert a situation where you’re going to lose a ballgame,” Hughes said. “It’s crunch time. I would’ve liked to have that one pitch [to Rasmus] back, but it is what it is. The guys did a great job to battle back in the game and we got a win.
“This is the situation I’m in, and I’m trying to embrace it as much as I can, pitch as well as I can and see what happens.”
Hughes threw just 56 pitches against the Jays, allowing two runs on four hits over his 3¹/₃ innings, with two strikeouts. He has an 0-6 record over his last 13 appearances, with a 5.98 ERA (35 earned runs in 52 ²/₃ innings) over that stretch.
If the Yankees rotation wasn’t so thin, Hughes likely wouldn’t still be starting. Girardi likely will want to use the off-day on Monday to give his veteran starters (C.C. Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte) an extra day of rest.
It’s also possible Huff’s performance could earn him another shot in the Yankees rotation, though that also could be risky because the team is still in a pennant race. Huff’s only other start was a disaster, as he allowed nine runs in 3 ¹/₃ innings in 13-9 loss to the Red Sox on Sept. 7.
Girardi didn’t want to consider any of these options Wednesday night, simply noting he has “got to worry about tomorrow first.”
Huff, for his part, said he is ready for any kind of role over the season’s final 10 games.
“I show up to the ballpark every day and make sure I’m ready for whatever, not just on [Hughes’] days,” Huff said. “I’m the long guy, so I know that when I do get in. … I’m getting in there to pitch until they tell me to stop.”