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Preview: Yankees vs Twins (6/01/14)

phil-hughes-smi2

Heeee’s baaacckkkk. Phil Hughes (5-1, 3.23 ERA) makes his return to the Yankee Stadium pitching rubber since signing with the Twins in the offseason. He will be going up against Chase Whitley (0-0, 2.57 ERA) in the rubber match Sunday afternoon. Whitley made his third Major League start Monday throwing a season high 91 pitches against St Louis. He threw a scoreless five innings before allowing three runs in the sixth and recording zero outs.

Hughes threw his seventh straight quality start Tuesday, giving up three runs on eight hits over seven innings against the Rangers in a no decision. He has settled down since allowing four earned runs in each of his first three starts, and pitching in spacious Target Field hasn’t hurt. “I feel pretty good with my mechanics right now,” said Hughes. “I’ve been trying to just simplify things, staying over the rubber. I feel like I never really get out of my delivery too much, which has enabled me to throw a lot of strikes, get ahead of guys, and that’s where the control stuff comes from.”

No doubt the big story in this game is Hughes facing the Yanks for the first time in an opposing teams jersey. “It was a little weird,” said Hughes on Friday. “I didn’t know where the visiting team comes in. I’ve never seen the visiting clubhouse before, so that’s a little strange.” He doesn’t expect any special treatment from the fans either. “Probably not very good,” he said about his reception. “That’s the way it is, they’re tough. That’s what makes playing here so great, because they are the best fans, they’re passionate, they love this team, they love this city. I’ve come to expect that, and so that’s the way it’s going to be.”

After scoring just one run Friday against Ricky Nolasco and one against Kevin Correia (both of whom, by the way, are second to last and last in ERA among qualifiers) the bats have been absolutely nonexistent in a lineup that is worth half a billion dollars more then last year. “The bottom line is scoring runs however you’ve got to do it,” said Joe Girardi. “This is not a lineup that’s filled with a ton of power. So we’re going to have to put hits together and hit doubles and steal some bases and do some things like that.”

 

Notes on the game

The Twins are 8-2 when Hughes takes the mound.

Hughes hasn’t walked a batter in six straight outings

The Yankees are 28-6 when they hold their opponent to four runs or less, the third best record in the Majors.

 

First pitch at 1:05 PM on Yes