Yankees Could Get Hughes to This

Though we're just about 40 minutes away from today's Yankees-A's game, I'm still thinking about last night's contest.

Just 11 days after CC Sabathia took a no-hitter into the 8th inning, Phil Hughes did the same last night in his start against Oakland. Like the big man, it was Hughes' second start the season. The California native retired the first batter in the 8th, but couldn't handle Eric Chavez's hot smash back thru the box. Two batters later Gabe Gross walked and Hughes' night was done.

Hughes was even more efficient than Sabathia, entering the 8th will a relatively low pitch count. He relied heavily on his fastball, which helped him to a career high 10 strikeouts.

After walking Daric Barton with one in the first, Hughes set down the next 20 A's in a row before Chavez's comebacker played pinball on Hughes' glove and body. The ball bounded back towards home plate as Hughes, with his back to catcher Jorge Posada, looked skyward for the ball.

Notes

The Yankees had taken a 2-0 lead in the 4th, helped by a rarity. Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano stroked back to back triples to break up a scoreless game between Hughes and Ben Sheets.

Nich Swisher got a day off, with Randy Winn getting a rare start. Swish will be back in the lineup today, while Curtis Granderson gets a day off.

Hughes' brush with fame evoked many emotions on Twitter. There were plenty of people who defied superstition and talked about the no-no. (Michael Kay was probably screaming it at home.) Others worried about an injury like the one that occurred when Hughes had a no-no going against Texas in June, 2006. There was speculation if Hughes would be pulled by Joe Girardi if his pitch count got too high.