Hot bats overshadow Hughes' bad day

Phil Hughes quickly figured out it was going to be a struggle Thursday. Hideki Matsui fouled off some of his best stuff in a 12-pitch at-bat before lining a long sacrifice fly to give the A's a 1-0 first-inning lead.

"Matsui had that real tough at-bat and it was just a grind," said Hughes, who might have fumbled an opportunity to show he deserves to remain in the Yankees' rotation. "That kind of set the tone."

Hughes allowed seven hits and was charged with six runs in 22/3 innings in the Yankees' 22-9 victory. "Unfortunately, I made a lot of bad pitches," said the righthander, who threw 78 pitches. "Location was probably the biggest thing. It makes it a little easier when you score 22 runs; I can sleep a little better tonight."

Joe Girardi understood Hughes' problems, but he also might sleep easier after the Yankees salvaged the third game of the series before heading to Baltimore. "He was getting in long counts," Girardi said. "He was throwing strikes [Hughes fanned five], but they made him work really, really hard, and it eventually caught up to him."

Cory Wade didn't help Hughes' line, allowing a three-run homer by Cliff Pennington on his first pitch as the Yankees fell behind 7-1 in the third.

Maybe it's something about the men in green and gold. Despite leading the A's 14-5 on July 22, Hughes was pulled with one out in the fifth and the bases loaded after surrendering nine hits and four walks in an eventual 17-7 victory. Like Wade, Hector Noesi allowed a two-run single that allowed two runs charged to Hughes to score.

"We scored like 16 and 20-something runs and I haven't gotten a win out of it, so that's tough," Hughes said. "It was pretty cool to watch, though, three grand slams. No one's ever seen that before."

Thursday's result also was surprising because Hughes had limited opponents to two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four starts, going 3-1 with a 1.75 ERA. Most recently, he allowed one run and two hits in 72/3 innings Aug. 19 in Minnesota.

"Stuff-wise, it was pretty much the same as in Minnesota; it was executing pitches," he said. "Hopefully with some work, it'll be like those previous starts.

"I feel like I had a little roll going. It's disappointing, but it's just a speed bump. I have to work hard to get over this one . . . and hopefully not face the A's for a while."