Game 58 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 NYM 2

(Check the WPA on that play.  Courtesy of The AP)

Phil Hughes threw the best game of his Major League career in his previous outing.  Before that, he threw one of his worst.  There was really no way to predict what version of Hughes would show up to pitch against the Mets last night, even if his overall performance had been solid for the last month or so.  If his fastball command was there, he should have success against the weak Met lineup, and it turned out that it was.  The only question was whether or not the offense would give him enough run support.

Game Notes:

- The bottom of the 1st perfectly encapsulated the Yankee offense this season.  Jeter led off with a single, A-Rod drove him in, they loaded the bases with only 1 out, and Raul Ibanez grounded into an inning-ending double play to limit the damage to 1-0.  Fucking failboat.

- Hughes was solid through 5 innings, allowing a solitary run on a solo HR by some guy named Omar Quintanilla, and striking out 6.  He gave up some hits here and there, but did a good job of limiting damage.  He struck out the side looking in the 5th, all on well-located fastballs.

- The problem was that the offense did nothing to help him after the 1 run in the 1st.  Dillon Gee pitched pretty well, but I can't give him too much credit, because he's Dillon Gee.  He walked the leadoff batter in the 3rd and 4th innings, but the Yankees couldn't do anything.

- After striking out David Wright on a brilliant curveball-curveball-4-seamer sequence in the 4th, Hughes tried to get cute and work a changeup into the mix in the 6th and Wright hit it for a HR.  You can't get too upset at David Wright hitting HRs against you, but with the lack of run support it put the Yankees in a 2-1 hole.

- Apparently all the offense needed was a deficit to wake them up.  In the bottom of the 6th they jumped back ahead on a Mark Teixeira 2-run HR.  It came with 2 outs and 2 strikes, and on the 3rd curveball of the AB that Teix absolutely knew was coming.

- Curtis Granderson, mired in a mini-slump, provided some insurance in the 8th with his 18th HR of the season off Bobby Parnell.  The lesson, as always, don't miss with a fastball over the plate against Curtis.

- Hughes pitched into the 7th and got 2.2 innings of solid bullpen work to close out the win.  Strange to see the 'pen not rack up one K.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Teix: 1-2, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB.  Haven't seen a homer from Teix that well-timed in I don't know how long.  These are the types of things he can do when he's seeing the ball well and has his swing in tune, and this is why we all rag on him when he's hitting like crap.  Dude is still a very good hitter.

- C-Grand: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 R.  Nice little productive night at the plate for C-Grand after a couple of rough ones, punctuated by his insurance HR in the 8th.

Oh Nos:

- Ibanez: 1-3, 4 LOB.  Had a hit, but also grounded into 2 DPs to end rallies.  He could have helped break the game open early and didn't come through.

- Bottom of the Order: Swish, Chavez, and Martin combined to go 0-9 with 3 Ks and 1 LOB.  This collective black hole in the lineup was one of the reasons the Yanks found themselves behind in the 6th.

Next Up:

Get your brooms out, people!  Because the Yankees are set to do exactly what I said they needed to do this weekend to restore some balance to the Force.  In all seriousness, there haven't been too many chances for the Yankees to sweep a series this year, and the ones they have had they haven't always capitalized on, so it would be nice to see against this particular opponent.  Andy Pettitte will be the starter tasked with helping to get it done, and with the way he's been pitching I wouldn't have it any other way.