Game 55 Wrap-Up: MIN 7 NYY 2

(Big time oofda for D-Rob today.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

There's no better example of the Yankees' player development failures than Phil Hughes.  Once the team's top prospect and one of the top prospects in baseball, Hughes went from not living up to the hype to being just plain bad in his tenure with the team before leaving via free agency this past offseason.  The change of scenery has done wonders for him in Minnesota so far.  Amazing what can happen when you get out of a flyball park and throw more strikes, huh?  Hughes made his first appearance as an opponent this afternoon, and in a frustrating display that was all too typical, he shut down the Yankees for 8 innings and gave his team a chance to make their furious 9th inning comeback.

Game Notes:

- Chase Whitley danced around 2 baserunners in the 2nd to keep the Twins off the scoreboard.  He couldn't repeat the feat in the 3rd and they took the early lead on a Brian Dozier RBI single.

- A Brett Gardner leadoff triple got the Yanks started in the bottom of the 4th.  2 more singles, a walk, and a sac fly gave them 2 runs off Hughes and a 2-1 lead.

- Whitley didn't go deep again, only 5 innings, but he held the lead and handed it off the bullpen.  Dellin Betances got the call for the 6th and 7th and retired the sides in order with 5 strikeouts.

- The 2 runs in the 4th was all the Yanks could muster.  Hughes settled in after that and retired the next 12 batters in a row to complete 8 innings.  Talk about a knife in the heart of Yankee fans.

- Adam Warren navigated the 8th and gave way to David Robertson for the close.  D-Rob promptly gave up a solo HR to Josh Willingham to lead off the 9th, the start to an ugly 6-run inning that saw him walk 3, get pulled, and get more runs tacked onto his line thanks to the Matts- Daley and Thornton.  Brutal.


F*ck Yeahs:

- Whitley: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.  I'd like to see Joe make an effort to stretch him out more.  He only threw 83 pitches.  But it's hard to argue with 1 run and no walks from your de facto 5th starter.

- Betances: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.  I know he doesn't have a very long track record and isn't a household name yet, but you can't tell me this guy hasn't been an All Star in the first 9 weeks.

Oh Nos:

- D-Rob: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.  Didn't have the command today.  It happens.  Margin for error is small when your offense never scores for your pitching staff.

- Yangervis Solarte: 0-3, 1 K, 4 LOB.  Hold the phone on that slump being over...

Next Up:

No rest for the weary.  The Mariners come to town tomorrow for their makeup game.  David Phelps and Felix Hernandez are the scheduled starters.