Joe Girardi thinks Phil Hughes is finally getting back to being the pitcher he was in 2010, when he won 18 games.
The manager has a point. With the Yankees holding on for a 4-2 win over the Mets last night in The Bronx, Hughes now has won five times in his past seven starts.
“It’s a little bit better feeling to not have to answer questions as often,” said Hughes, who was holding on to his rotation spot for dear life in the first month of the season. “But I still put a lot of pressure on myself to pitch well every time out.”
That includes cutting down on home runs. Despite his success two seasons ago, Hughes gave up 25 homers that year.
He gave up just two runs in 6 1/3 innings last night, but both came on home runs.
After Omar Quintanilla and David Wright went deep, Hughes has surrendered 15 homers this season and at least one in all 12 of his starts.
That matches the Royals’ Runelvys Hernandez, who had a 12-start streak in 2006, for the second-longest stretch to begin a season in major league history — trailing Bert Blyleven’s 14 in 1987, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
“The home runs are an issue,” Hughes said after improving to 6-5. “I’m a fly-ball pitcher, so it’s going to happen.
“I’d like to blame it on the ballpark, but those were pretty much going out anywhere.”
Still, the resurgent Hughes chose to look on the bright side.
“Thankfully, they were solo homers,” Hughes said. “I was able to get outs with guys on base.”
And he was able to deliver another solid start for a rotation that has overcome its ineffectiveness earlier in the season.
“You don’t want to be the guy that lets it down,” Hughes said.
After Mark Teixeira gave the Yankees a one-run lead with a home run in the sixth, Hughes gave up a single to Josh Thole with one out in the seventh and then watched the bullpen try to hang on.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” Hughes said. “You want to be out there controlling your own fate.”
Hughes managed to control his fate in his last start, when he completed a nine-inning game against the Tigers for the first time as a pro.
“I don’t think he was as sharp as he was in Detroit,” Girardi said. “But he battled his rear end off.”