Offense Fails Hughes Again

Phil Hughes certainly pitched well enough to earn a win today but once again the offense failed to show the pitcher any support. The Yankees gave Hughes a 1-0 lead in the first inning but Hughes couldn't keep the Twins off the board. The righty starter gave up four earned runs in 7.1 innings pitched. He allowed two solo home runs early then gave up a two-run shot after coming out for the eighth inning. He threw a pitch over the plate for Pedro Florimon to drive out of the park to give the Twins a 4-1 lead which seemed like a 10-1 lead to the Yankees because of their lack of offense. After Cano's RBI single in the first inning, the Yankees couldn't plate any runs and squandered opportunities when they had runners on third base in two different innings. If those runs scored, the Yankees may have won the game and we wouldn't be talking about Hughes allowing the home runs. With a lead or a tie going into the eighth inning, Girardi would go to Robertson and Mo to pitch the final innings and the Twins would have likely not have scored the two additional runs. The Yankees have a chance to forget about today's loss with a win tomorrow heading into the All-Star break. 

Lefty CC Sabathia will be on the mound tomorrow afternoon before the break. The Yankees will be off for the week and will begin their second half run on Friday at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. Lyle Gibson will pitch against the Yankees again after suffering a loss to them on July 4th.