HUGHES DOMINATES; YANKS BEAT MARINERS 6-2

After just two inning today the New York Yankees scored four runs and gave Phil Hughes all the breathing room he needed.  Hughes cruised through 7.2 innings of one run and earned his 3rd win of the year as the Yankees take the second game of this three game series, 6-2.  It was Hughes 2nd win in a row and it may have been his best pitched game of the season.  His velocity continues to be up in the mid 90's and his breaking ball has been phenomenal.  Hughes ERA is still up there at 5.50 for the season but it is literally almost dropping one full run each of his last 2.5 starts.  Hughes final line today:  7.2 IP - 6 Hits - 1 ER - 4 K's - 1 BB

As I mentioned above, the Yankees got all the offense they needed in the 2nd inning.  Raul Ibanez and Russell Martin each had RBI doubles in the inning and left fielder Jayson Nix homered to make it 4-0.  Ibanez also added a solo shot in the 5th to give the Yanks a 5-0 lead.  And red hot Robinson Cano added an RBI single in the 8th that gave the Yankees their 6th and final run of the game.  Speaking of red hot, The Captain had 2 more hits today.  He added to his MLB hit total which now stands at 53.  His season batting avg is .376 and On-Base-Percentage is .422

Speaking of Raul Ibanez, the guy has been incredible for the Yankees in his part time role this season  He now has 7 HR's for the year along with 21 RBI's.  If you've been reading BYB for a while now you know that we loved the Ibanez signing this past winter and were not really concerned about his awful Spring.  We just thought that he could add some pop to the left side of the plate in a DH role but, we definitely did not think he would have produced as much as he has already in 2012.  He's been a pleasant and well needed surprise for the Yankees.

It was a solid game all around for the Yankees and Hughes continues to look stronger and stronger each start which is a great sign.  I mentioned it a couple weeks ago in my piece, WHY PHIL HUGHES REMAINS A MYSTERY, that Hughes and the Yankees need to put to rest the Roger Clemens comparisons, and all the high expectations, and just let Hughes pitch.  Just give him the ball every five days simply asking him to give his team 6+ innings and keep his ball club in every game.  If he does that each outing only good things can happen. 

Tomorrow is the return of Andy Pettitte as the Yankees look to sweep the Mariners.  Happy Birthday Yogi Berra and an early Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there!

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com
Twitter: @MikeyBlu23


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