The LoHud Yankees Blog

Phil Hughes was fantastic last night as the Yankees won their sixth straight game. Making the night even better for Hughes was the fact that his mom and dad came up from Orange County to see him dominate. Chad’s got the story from Oakland.

Joba Chamberlain has taken hold of the eighth-inning role, something we all pretty much expected would happen. The notebook also has items on Boone Logan, Randy Winn and – GTLU folks take note – a potential second straight start for Brett Gardner against a lefty.

When Eric Chavez chopped that ball up the middle in the eighth inning tonight, it hit off Phil Hughes’ left forearm. His arm was angled in such a way that Hughes thought the ball must have popped up into the air. It wasn’t until he looked toward third and saw Alex Rodriguez pointing that he finally realized the ball was in front of the mound.

“It seemed like I was looking for the ball for about eight minutes,” Hughes said.

Joe Girardi said Hughes was “as good as it gets” and Jorge Posada said it reminded him of how dominant Hughes was in that near no-hitter against Texas back in 2007. “It tells you what kind of stuff he’s got,” Posada said. “It tells you that when he’s on, he has swing-and-miss type stuff.”

As for Hughes, he was just happy to have put on a show in front of his parents, who drove up from Orange County to watch him start a major league game for only the third time. Hughes said he couldn’t help sitting on the bench wondering what would have happened had he found the ball sooner — “I guess you’ve got to fantasize about it sometimes because it’s probably not going to happen again,” he said — but milestone or not, it was a heck of a performance from a 23-year-old.

“Obviously you’re trying to go out there and throw a perfect game every time, but that’s not going to happen,” Hughes said. “I’ll take 28 or 30 more of these if I can.”

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• Hughes did not throw a single changeup. “Sometimes you’re just going to have such good stuff that maybe you stray away from a certain pitch,” Hughes said. “Tonight was one of those nights. After I kept rolling and rolling, I didn’t want to get beat on the changeup.”

• Hughes said his fastball command was “the best it’s ever been.”

• When he got the first out of the seventh inning, Hughes said his mind immediately jumped to his near no-hitter in Texas, when he had to leave after 6.1 hitless innings because of a hamstring injury. “After I got that first out in the seventh I was just hoping I didn’t go down with something,” he said. “That was all I was thinking about.”

• Mostly four-seamers and cutters tonight. Posada said there, at most, 10 curveballs and Hughes simply didn’t need the changeup. He was throwing his cutter to lefties and righties, even backdooring a few of them.

• Both Girardi and Posada raved about Brett Gardner’s two-out, RBI single in the ninth, pushing a one-run lead to a two-run lead. Gardner took the ball to left field, and he’s seemed pretty comfortable doing that early in the season. “That’s a huge hit,” Girardi said. “That extra run in s a huge hit for us.”

• After using Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera the past two nights, Girardi said he doesn’t expect to have either available tomorrow. “Other guys have to step up if we need them,” Girardi said.

• Mark Teixeira said he couldn’t remember anything about Hughes near no-hitter against Texas, which happened while Teixeira was with the Rangers. He also said he was screaming from first base, “It’s in front of you!” when Chavez hit that ball up the middle. “Nothing we could do,” Teixeira said. “If it doesn’t hit Phil, it’s up the middle for a hit anyway. It wasn’t a cheap one, at least.”

Those are Associated Press photos. The bottom one is of Curtis Granderson after he scored the insurance run in the ninth.

Phil Hughes was positively dominant tonight. He struck out a career-high 10, walked two and allowed only an infield single through 7.1 nearly no-hit innings. The Yankees gave him a much-deserved 3-1 win, with a save for Mariano Rivera. It was the Yankees sixth straight win, and assured them a win of their first five series for the first time since 1926. Hughes lost the no-hitter when Eric Chavez chopped the ball back to the mound to lead off the eighth inning. It hit off Hughes, who couldn’t find the ball in time to make the play at first.

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Randy Winn RF
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Phil Hughes (1-0, 3.60)
Career vs. Athletics

ATHLETICS
Cliff Pennington SS
Daric Barton 1B
Ryan Sweeney RF
Kurt Suzuki C
Eric Chavez DH
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Gabe Gross CF
Adam Rosales 2B
Eric Patterson LF

RHP Ben Sheets (1-0, 2.65)
Career vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 10:05 p.m./YES Network

UMPIRES: HP Tom Hallion, 1B Ron Kulpa, 2B Lance Barksdale, 3B Mike Muchlinski

WEATHER: The forecast says a 50 percent chance of rain at game time, but there aren’t many clouds in the sky. It’s a little chilly here, temperatures in the low 50s.

BRAND NEW EXPERIENCE: The current Oakland A’s have a total of four major league at-bats against Phil Hughes. Kurt Suzuki has half of them, and he’s 0-for-2. It’s hard to imagine Hughes faced many of these guys in the minor leagues either.

ALMOST AS NEW: It’s a similar story for the Yankees and Ben Sheets. The Yankees have a total of 24 at-bats — and only three hits — against Sheets. Tonight’s right fielder, Randy Winn, has one of those hits. Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter have the others.

PITCHING WINS: During their current five-game winning streak, the Yankees pitchers have allowed three runs or less in every game. They’ve allowed five runs or less in each of the past nine games. They are 8-0 when leading after six innings.

WALK IN THE PARK: The Yankees lead the Majors with 71 walks, they also lead with 1 walk per 7.25 plate appearances.

UPDATE, 9:44 p.m.: Travis Buck was scratched from the A’s lineup with a strained right oblique. He was replaced by Eric Patterson

UPDATE, 9:59 p.m.: A member of the Harlem Globetrotters just threw out a first pitch with his right hand while spinning a basketball with his left hand. He fired a bullet, too.

UPDATE, 10:25 p.m.: Mark Teixeira narrowly avoids being speared by a broken bat, and Robinson Cano backs him up to make the play. That obviously happens all the time.

UPDATE, 10:59 p.m.: Hughes looks terrific. I have no other analysis, he just looks really good against this lineup.

UPDATE, 11:07 p.m.: It’s really tough to keep getting through this Yankees lineup inning after inning. Back-to-back triples have rocked Ben Sheets and given the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

UPDATE, 11:18 p.m.: This is the kind of thing I saw Hughes do time and again in the minor leagues. He gets aggressive and you just feel like no one can tough him.

UPDATE, 11:22 p.m.: Why Brett Gardner is not standing on third base right now is a complete mystery to me. Granted, he can still score from second on just about any base hit, but I was surprised to see him so far off the bag on that fly ball to deep right.

UPDATE, 11:37 p.m.: For what it’s worth, Ben Sheets has looked pretty good himself. But Hughes has been absolutely dominant.

UPDATE, 11:51 p.m.: I believe they ruled that a hit for Gardner. There was no announcement in the press box, which usually means no error. It’s still 2-0 Yankees after six.

UPDATE, 12:01 a.m.: I remember one ball being hit hard against Hughes, that fourth inning fly out to center field. Otherwise, the A’s haven’t come close.

UPDATE, 12:09 a.m.: That’s how Hughes lost the no-hitter! Are you kidding me! Better than the way he lost the no-hitter in Texas, but jeez.

UPDATE, 12:12 a.m.: Hughes just got his 10th strikeout, a career high.

UPDATE, 12:19 a.m.: Very nice ovation for Hughes as he came off the field here in the eighth. He tipped his cap ever so slightly to the crowd, which was greeting him with more than a few “Huggghhesss” chants. Here’s Chamberlain with runners at first and second and one out.

Until today, Yankees manager Joe Girardi had never said anything definitive about the eighth-inning role in his bullpen. A front runner, though, had clearly emerged.

No Yankees reliever had been used as often or for as many innings Joba Chamberlain, and this afternoon Girardi made it clear that Chamberlain will be his go-to setup reliever ahead of Mariano Rivera.

“I think he’s done what most of us expected him to do,” Girardi said. “I think he’s enjoying himself and what he’s doing. It’s nice when guys have roles and you can turn to them and when the phone rings, they know it’s them.”

Chamberlain has pitched in seven of the Yankees 13 games. He’s been especially good in his past four outings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out seven. When he learned he wouldn’t be the Yankees fifth starter, Chamberlain’s thoughts immediately turned to the eighth inning.

“That’s the first thing that came into my mind,” he said. “Knowing I’ve been in that situation before, but also knowing that I still have a lot to prove. Knowing it’s not going to be just handed to me.”

Here’s Girardi.

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And here’s Chamberlain.

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• How’s this for a stat Girardi knew off the top of his head this afternoon? Yesterday, Robinson Cano had five at-bats and saw 31 pitches. “That’s not something you probably would have said 2 or 3 years ago,” Girardi said.

• Girardi said he came into this series planning to give Nick Swisher today’s game off. “Just a day off for Swish and keeping everyone involved,” Girardi said.

• Dave Robertson is back with the team after missing yesterday’s game to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Alabama.

• Chamberlain is available tonight.

• What does Girardi want to see from Phil Hughes: “Not trying to do anything more than he did the last time,” Girardi said.

• As for a scouting report on Ben Sheets: “He’s basically fastball, curveball,” Girardi said. “At times he’s up in the zone. You have to make sure you don’t chase up there. A lot of times, that fastball looks very good when it’s above the belt.”

• Girardi said he “might” start Gardner against a left-handed starter again tomorrow.

UPDATE, 8:34 p.m.: Oakland’s lineup.

Cliff Pennington SS
Daric Barton 1B
Ryan Sweeney RF
Kurt Suzuki C
Eric Chavez DH
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Gabe Gross CF
Adam Rosales 2B
Travis Buck LF

RHP Ben Sheets (1-0, 2.65)

Those are both Associated Press photos. The second is of Robinson Cano breaking up a double play last night. The first is of Chamberlain earlier this season.

Joe Girardi just declared Joba Chamberlain his eighth inning setup man. More on that when I get back from the clubhouse. For now, here’s the lineup with Nick Swisher getting a day off.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Randy Winn RF
Brett Gardner LF

When Joba Chamberlain came out of the bullpen last night with the bases loaded and the A’s clean-up hitter coming to the plate, the result was vintage Chamberlain as he struck out Kevin Kouzmanoff on a slider.

“Boone pitched great and Javy pitched well, it was just one of those things that you have to do to get us out of that inning,” Chamberlain said. “Know your plan before you go out there.”

No Yankees reliever has been used more often or for more innings than Chamberlain, whose velocity seems to be rising as he pitches more and more out of the pen. He hit 96 mph several times last night, and his slider has remained a powerful weapon.

“The work in between is the biggest difference,” he said. “Just knowing what you have to do to stay where you need to be and not do too much, where you still have you legs and everything left with you at the end.”

Associated Press photo of Chamberlain with his father.

Alex Rodriguez had a couple of doubles and drove in a run in the Yankees opening series against the Red Sox, but he ultimately hit just .133 during those first three games.

“We won two out of three and (Mark Teixeira) and I really didn’t do much to help out,” Rodriguez said at the time.

In the 10 games sense, Teixeira has stayed pretty cold, but Rodriguez has gotten on a role. He’s hit .387 since the Red Sox series, driving in nine runs and scoring nine more. He’s walked 11 times, and he’s homered twice in the past three games.

Last night, Rodriguez positively crushed a ball into the stands in left center. It takes a quite a bit for a press box to collectively react, but last night’s home run drew some variation of “Wow” from just about everyone sitting around me.

Here’s Rodriguez talking after the game.

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How much respect did Javier Vazquez get when he arrived at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum this afternoon? So much that his name was spelled “Vasquez” on the name plate above his locker.

How much respect did Vazquez get when he left the park tonight? So much that he took the Yankees championship belt with him.

The championship belt is back, and it belongs to Vazquez after his first win of the season. His last pitch was a mistake that Kurt Suzuki hit for a two-run homer, but otherwise Vazquez was better than in his first two starts. Still not perfect, but better.

“My breaking pitches all were crisper than in my first couple of games,” he said. “Still with my fastball I’m having a little bit of trouble locating, but all around I felt a lot better.”

Here’s Vazquez speaking after the game.

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• The Yankees drew 10 walks tonight, including three from the suddenly more patient Robinson Cano. “They got ahead of him and he coaxed some walks,” Girardi said.

• Nick Swisher was hitless in his previous 16 at-bats before an RBI single in the first inning. “I feel like they’ve been the same swings,” Swisher said. “They’re just finally finding some grass.”

• Pretty solid debut from Boone Logan. He retired the first four batters he faced, and when he loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh it was on an infield single, a legit single and an oh-so-close walk.

• Speaking of that bases-loaded jam, Joba Chamberlain got out of it by striking out clean-up hitter Kevin Kouzmanoff. The gun here had him hitting 96 mph several times tonight.

• The Yankees 2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters — Cano, Nick Johnson, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez — combined for two hits and seven runs.

• On the day he got his World Series ring, Edwar Ramirez pitched two hitless innings for Oakland, but he also walked four.

• The latest on home plate umpire Ed Rapuano, who left the game after being hit by a foul tip: He was taken by ambulance for a CT Scan at a local hospital, and was alert when he left the stadium.

That’s an AP shot of Vazquez and an AP shot of Swisher.

The Yankees got on a roll at home this weekend, and they seem to have carried that with them across the country. Alex Rodriguez hit a monster three-run home run, the struggling Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher were key parts of a three-run first inning and Javier Vazquez was solid for his first win of the season. Things got a little tense when Oakland loaded the bases in the eighth, but the Yankees got out of it for a 7-3 win that was their fifth straight.

Associated Press photo