One day after Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes delivered his best outing of the season last Tuesday in Chicago, Joe Girardi said Hughes would start tonight against the Angels at Yankee Stadium.
However, after Hughes was used in relief and was the loser in Sunday night’s 3-2 loss to the Red Sox in 10 innings at Fenway Park, he was not listed by Girardi as a starter for any of the three games against the Angels.
The Yankees are going with A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova and Bartolo Colon in the upcoming series, and though it was not announced, ace CC Sabathia will likely open a three-game series against the Rays on Friday night at the Stadium with five days’ rest instead of four.
If the Yankees stick with a six-man rotation, Freddy Garcia and Hughes would follow Sabathia, but that is not set at this point.
Hughes blanked the White Sox, 6-0, in a rain-shortened, six-inning game, allowing three singles, fanning four and not issuing a walk.
Sunday night, in his first relief outing of the season, Hughes threw 13 pitches on what was his normal throw day, but that ugly inning was likely enough for Girardi to change his mind about Hughes, who fell to 2-4.
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Alex Rodriguez
continued to move toward being ready for a minor-league rehab assignment game Friday.
Idle due to a right knee problem that required arthroscopic surgery on July 11, Rodriguez worked out at George M. Steinbrenner Field yesterday in Tampa.
“I felt really good, so far thumbs up,” Rodriguez said after taking batting practice and fielding ground balls. “My body will tell me when I am ready.”
If Rodriguez can play in games Friday and Saturday, there is a chance he could come off the disabled list sometime next week when the Yankees play three games in Kansas City.
Rodriguez’s return date plays a part in when top hitting prospect Jesus Montero
will be promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to the big leagues.
With Jorge Posada
sent to the bench, the right-handed-hitting Montero could pick up at-bats in the DH slot against lefties.
However, when Rodriguez returns he will be used as the DH from time to time, and Andruw Jones
also can fill that role against lefties. The Yankees are not likely to use Montero at catcher in a pennant race with a staff of pitchers he doesn’t know.
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Left-hander Manuel Banuelos
pitched well Sunday at Triple-A (6 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), and is likely to surface in the Yankees’ bullpen after the rosters increase from 25 on Sept. 1. Veteran J.C. Romero
asked for and was granted his release from Triple-A yesterday, taking him out of the mix to be promoted to fill the left-handed void in the pen.
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General manager Brian Cashman
‘s negotiating leverage with the Yankees increased yesterday when Dave Dombrowski
signed a four-year extension with the Tigers. Dombrowski was in the final year of his contract, and with Cashman’s contract ending after this season, Dombrowski was a possible replacement if Cashman doesn’t return to The Bronx.
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Since May 20, Brett Gardner
is 30-for-34 in stolen-base attempts and has swiped 21 straight. The last Yankee with a longer streak of successful tries was Derek Jeter
, who stole 22 in a row from July 20, 2001 to June 2, 2002.