Yanks Go For Second Straight Win With Hughes On The Mound

NEW YORK -- There's nothing more rare than a blown save by mariano Rivera, but a back to back blown saves by Mariano Rivera is almost unheard of. Last night, Miguel Cabrera took advantage of a cutter from Rivera, sending it into Monument Park to tie the game in the 9th inning.

Then, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Brett Gardner slapped a fastball past a diving Cabrera into left field, scoring Jayson Nix to send the Yankees fans home happy with a 4-3 win, snapping the Bombers four-game losing skid.

Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his game game at Yankee Stadium since his atrocious postseason. After receiving an almost even mixture of boos and cheers in his first at-bat, the boos grew louder as the night went on and the strikeouts piled up.

Today's Lineup, 1:05 EST @ Yankee Stadium:

Gardner CF
Ichiro RF
Cano 2B
Soriano DH
Granderson LF
Nunez SS
Overbay 1B
Nix 3B
Romine C
Hughes RHP

Pitching Preview:

It's been over a month since Phil hughes last won a game for the Yankees. This past month has been a struggle for Hughes, and in his last outing against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, he gave up five runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings.

"It's been really tough. It's been like a nightmare I can't wake up from," Hughes said after that game. "It's like a battle every time, even if I have a good start. It's not easy. On a day like this, it's really disappointing."

Hughes has been on and off in his career against the Tigers, going 5-5 with an ERA of 4.67 in the 11 times, nine starts, he's faced Detroit.

On the other hand, Hughes' counterpart, Anibal Sanchez, has been tossing the ball pretty well over the past couple of weeks. In four starts since the All-Star break, he's 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA. In his last starts against the Indians, he allowed two runs on four hits in, while striking out 11 in 7 2/3 innings.

"I pitched good and I feel good, but my first pitch [for strikes] hasn't been there, and I need it," Sanchez said after a recent outing. "I need to work on that, and I need to work on the out pitch, especially late in the count that I used to do right before I went on the DL [in June]."

Yankee Notes:

* According to reports from Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York, prior to A-Rod's home debut Friday night, the Yankees sent him a letter, officially informing him he will be disciplined for seeking a second opinion on an injury without club approval.

Francisco Cervelli was also given a letter by the Yankees, telling him he will be disciplined for failing to report to work prior to the announcement of his 50-game suspension.

* Last night's win snapped the Yankees four-game losing streak coming into play, and the loss for Detroit snapped their-12-game winning streak. The Yanks will now go for their second straight win on Saturday, looking for back to back wins for the first time since July 11th-12th.

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