Hughes Back In The Yanks' Rotation To Face The O's

Yesterday in Baltimore, the Yankees announced that they were shutting down 39-year-old shortstop Derek Jeter for the remainder of the 2013 season because of his ailing left ankle. Jeter finished his season after just 17 games, and even if the Yankees make the playoffs, he won't be a part of it.

"It's very disappointing not to be able to play, especially this time of year," Jeter said. "This is when I want to play the most. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The entire year has been pretty much a nightmare for me physically, so I guess it's fitting that it ends like this."

The Yankees were able to fight back against the Orioles Wednesday night to pull away with another victory, going for their third straight win tonight, as well as capturing the series victory in their final game against the O's this season -- regular season, that is.

Thanks to a grand slam for Mike Carp in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox went on to win their game 7-4 against Tampa, letting the Yankees to pull within just one game of the second Wild Card spot.

Tonight's Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Rodriguez DH
Soriano LF
Cano 2B
Wells RF
Nunez 3B
Reynolds 1B
Ryan SS
Stewart C
Hughes RHP

Pitching Preview:

Following Wednesday night's win, Yankees manager Joe Girardi shared the news that Phil Hughes was be back in the Yanks rotation are the team skipped his last start in favor of David Huff, who would end up getting shelled by the Red Sox for nine runs in 3.1 innings.

Hughes, who hasn't won a start since July 2nd, has posted a 6.69 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP since the All-Star break, and is presumably enter his final weeks as a starter for the Yankees.

Hughes' last start before being skipped in the rotation came on September 2nd against the White Sox when his day was cut short after 1.1 inning because of a near two-hour rain delay -- rain is also in the forecast tonight.

"We just have to win games," Hughes said. "There's no underlying stories there. I'm just trying to help us out, throw the ball as well as I can and do the best job that I can. I'm excited for that. I'm not really worried about redemption or proving anybody wrong or stuff like that. I'm just trying to throw as many quality innings as I can."

Taking the mound for the Orioles Thursday night will be left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who's coming off a quality start against the White Sox after giving up just two runs on six hits over six innings.

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