Ten Strikeouts Not Enough For Hughes To Beat The Twins

The Yankees have done nothing but own the Twins this season, coming into Saturday's 5-0 against Minnesota. Looking to extend the streak, Joe Girardi gave the ball to Phil Hughes, who had been pitching pretty well lately.

On Military Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium, the Twins used a trio of homeruns served up by Hughes to come away with a 4-1 victory, their first against the Bombers this season.

Hughes had it going on for him early, picking up five strikeouts through the first two innings. But while he was still throwing the ball well, it was only a few little mistakes that really hurt Hughes.

"I thought it was some of the better stuff that he had all year long," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "His offspeed was really effective. He had the 10 strikeouts. I thought he threw the ball exceptionally well except for a few mistakes."

Robinson Cano gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a single up the middle the ricocheted off the foot of Twins starter Samuel Deduno, finding it's way into center field to score Ichiro from second.

Hughes gave the run back in the second inning when Trevor Plouffe took him deep to left field, his 10th home run of the season, to tie the game at 1-1.

After the Plouffe homerun, Hughes found a rhythm, keeping Minnesota out of the hit column up until the 7th inning when Ryan Doumit made him pay again, taking Hughes deep to right field to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.

With Hughes still pitching in the 8th, Aaron Hicks dropped down a bunt to the third base side, beating it out to begin the inning. After Clay Thomas was called out for base runner interference, Pedro Florimon took a 2-2 pitch from Hughes deep the right to put Minnesota up 4-1.

Hughes matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts, giving up four on five hits, three of which were homeruns, while walking just one on 108 pitches.

"It's been frustrating," Hughes said. "I guess the one thing I can say is, I've felt good with my stuff over the last three or four starts. After the All-Star break, that's something I can continue to build on."

Hughes, known as a fly ball pitcher, has allowed 18 homeruns this season, ranking second on the ballclub behind only CC Sabathia, who has given up 20 long ball this season.

"As a straight fastball, four-seam guy, if I miss up in the zone, a lot of times it's hard-hit fly balls," Hughes said. "That's just part of who I am, so I have to really concentrate on locating and not leaving balls over the middle of the plate."

Although not all of the blame can be put on Hughes as the Yankees bats gave him nothing in support other than the first inning run. The offense managed eight hits, but only Cano's hit in the first came to be important.

"It's just a matter of finding a way to get things going," Lyle Overbay said. "We're definitely not going to hit the home runs, and we can't wait for the three-run homer and all that stuff, but we can do other things. We have that kind of team in here. It's a matter of going out and doing it."

Twins starter Samuel Deduno also had a lot to do with keeping the Yankees' bats quiet throughout the afternoon, giving up just four hits and three walks after permitting the two hits and a run in the first inning.

"He's got some funky movement on his ball," Yankees catcher Austin Romine said. "His ball cuts, and he mixed in his curveball to keep us off balance."

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