Yankees Players of the Week: April 29-May 5
Phil Hughes dominated in his start vs the Athletics on Saturday. For the first time this season, the player of the week honors will be shared between two Yankee hurlers, Phil Hughes (Player of the week from April 22-28) and Hiroki Kuroda (1st time honor). In a week where the Yankees played .500 baseball (3-3), the team was bolstered by two incredible outings from an aging veteran, and a young fireballer. On Saturday, May 4th, Phil Hughes pitched 8 scoreless innings against a tough Oakland Athletics lineup. In 8 IP, Hughes allowed 4 hits, while allowing 2 walks, and striking out 9 batters. For Hughes, who has had some struggles at Yankee Stadium this season, this was a great outing! He was able to to earn his 1st win of the season (1-2) by working ahead of hitters which allowed him to dominate his opponents. He threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 29 batters he faced. After the game, Hughes was quoted as saying:
I feel like I'm kind of clicking right now with what I'm trying to do. I feel like I'm executing pitches at a better rate than I did early on. As long as I can hit the glove and stay there, and maintain my velocity and strength late in the game, then I feel like I'll be pretty good.
On Tuesday, April 30th, Hiroki Kuroda took the mound against the struggling Houston Astros. After losing to the Astros for the 2nd time in 10 meetings between the ballclubs, the Yankees needed a boost and they got it from 38 year-old Hiroki Kuroda. After battling some early inning control issues (3 BB in 2 IP); Kuroda found his control and took charge over the following 5 innings. At the end of the day, Kuroda earned his 4th win of the season (4-1), throwing 7 innings of shutout baseball, striking out 8 Astros, while allowing 4 walks. Kuroda gave the Yankees a start they needed after an embarrassing loss the day before. Honorable Mention:
Lyle Overbay (.300 BA; 2 2B; 2 HR; 4 RBI; 1.064 OPS)
Robinson Cano (.360 BA; 2 2B; 1 HR; 2 RBI; .945 OPS)
Ichiro Suzuki (.400 BA; 1 2B; 1 3B; 1 RBI; 1.005 OPS)
Brett Gardner (.348 BA; 1 2B; 1 RBI; 3 SB)
Eduardo Nunez (.316 BA; 3 2B; 1 3B; .929 OPS)
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