Unlike A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte before him, Phil Hughes left last night’s game the old-fashioned way: after struggling with his control and getting knocked around to the tune of six runs on nine hits and three walks. So that’s something.
The Angels homered twice off Hughes and four times in all en route to the 10–2 victory. (It’s the second time in three games the Yankees have allowed ten runs.) Even Hideki Matsui, who hadn’t gone deep in three weeks, homered. How nice of the Yankees to make Matsui look like a slugger again in exchange for Bobby Abreu making Jorge Posada look like he still has a throwing arm.
Javier Vazquez makes his first second-half start this afternoon. The All-Star break didn’t appear to help any of the other Yankees starters. Perhaps he’ll be the one to break the trend.