Hughes on a Roll

Phil Hughes came into today's game against the White Sox with a mission: to give the Yankees a split in the series. They lost the first two games to Chicago painfully. They rebounded yesterday and today with a series split. Hughes' first inning was shaky. He gave up two runs on three hits before the Yankees even stepped to the plate. After that inning, he settled down and delivered seven more innings of shutout baseball. Hughes' ERA now stands at 4.29 after beginning the season with an earned run average of about seven. He hasn't necessarily been the Hughes of the first half of 2010 in the streak, but he has come close to that. He has been striking out batters at an exceptional pace, whiffing eight batters today. Soriano came in to earn his eighteenth save of the season. After a bad start to his Yankee career, Soriano has been a godsend to the Yankees after the Rivera injury. He has stabilized the bullpen and has provided stellar relief in the closer role. He has a Mo-like ERA of 1.78 this season.

Cano continued his hot hitting today with another home run as well as a single. He accounted for half of the Yankee runs. Eric Chavez hit his sixth home run of the year today to account for the other half. Eric Chavez has been an invaluable part of the Yankees this year. He plays brilliant defense and he can still hit with pop. Knowing Chavez is there makes Girardi more comfortable with resting A-Rod.

The Yankees are going into Tampa for a three game series against the Rays starting tomorrow night. Freddy Garcia is getting the start tomorrow opposite Matt Moore, who the Yankees have not seen yet this year. They remember him from last year when he pitched brilliantly against them at the end of the season at Yankee Stadium.

The starting lineup for the All-Star game was announced earlier today. Three Yankees made the cut including Jeter, Cano and Granderson. CC Sabathia was also selected to the game but won't pitch because of his injury.