The pressure is now on Hughes.

Sunday in the Bronx, Ivan Nova made his first start in the majors since leaving with triceps inflammation on April 29th against the Blue Jays. It was only a spot start, but it may have been the beginning of something more.

Nova's afternoon had a bumpy take-off, before he was able to settle in quite nicely against the Rays. Nova delivered one of his best starts of the season, tossing 6 2/3 innings, giving up only three runs on seven hits, while walking three and striking out a season high, seven batters.

His breaking pitches, namingly his slider and curveball, were outstanding. He kept the Rays hitter off-balance and had them guessing throughout the afternoon.

"He was just consistently throwing strikes with everything he had," catcher Chris Stewart said. "His fastball was sinking, we were able to get some groundballs. His curveball was really good."

Up until having two-outs in the 7th inning, Nova was cruising. When he hit Desmond Jennings and Matt Joyce, his day abruptly ended. Leaving to the bullpen to eventually surrender the go-ahead runs that would prove to be the deciding factor in the Rays 3-1 win.

Before the game, manager Joe Girardi wouldn't give any details to the media about what his plans were with Nova. He said that he wanted to first see how he threw the ball. Now that he's see him pitch, it's only a matter of time until a decision is made.

With this brilliant performance now in the books, the ball is in Phil Hughes' court. Hughes has been among the Yankees biggest weakness over the past few weeks, going 1-4 with a 5.86 ERA in his last seven starts.

His last outing against the Dodgers may have been the one to set the countdown for his removal from the rotation in motion. Allowing five runs on 10 hits, he proved be ineffective in a time when it wasn't an option.

"I haven’t really thought about moving Phil out of the rotation." Said Girardi last week. "He’s capable of doing a good job for us but right now, he’s struggling." But after today's game, Girardi did say this: "When you see the way [Nova] pitched today, he makes it real hard."

Hughes was scheduled to next take the mound on Tuesday against the Rangers. Instead, the Yankees pushed him back so that Andy Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda can make their normal rotation starts. This means that we won't get to see how Hughes responds to the pressure of possibly losing his job until Thursday.

A trip to the bullpen or the minors may be in the future of either Nova or Hughes. Don't for get that Michael Pineda is also on his way. Many decision are are hand for the Yankees as the month progresses.

"The decision that they make, I don't got no control about that," Nova said. "I just got to be happy with the way I threw the ball, and I am. I don't know if I opened their eyes today, but I opened my eyes. That gave me a little more confidence in myself. I knew I could pitch better, and I did."

Nova showed the Yankees his hand on Saturday, and now the pressure is on Hughes to fight back show the doubters that a spot in the rotation is something he deserves.

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