Hughes begins with 30 50-foot throws

Phil Hughes officially began the throwing program to strengthen his arm Friday, walking out to short rightfield with pitching coach Larry Rothschild at 1:35 p.m. and doing some light tossing for about five minutes.

Hughes threw 30 pitches at 50 feet. "It went fine,'' Joe Girardi said, "but it's 50 feet."

It was Girardi's way of saying it's very, very early in a process that, in a best-case scenario, will lead to Hughes' return to the rotation in six weeks.

"He'll probably have something every day as he continues to progress," Girardi said. "He'll have some off days in there, but I don't have in front of me exactly what his schedule's going to be."

Hughes threw for the first time since late April, when he said his arm still felt "dead." The righthander saw a specialist in St. Louis on May 2, with the doctor ruling out thoracic outlet syndrome, a circulatory disorder.

Roster doings

The Yankees sent righthander Buddy Carlyle to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and re-called righthander Hector Noesi, 1-1 with a 3.92 ERA in four starts. Carlyle pitched an inning Wednesday night, taking the loss, and threw 11/3 innings Thursday night. Friday was Noesi's day to start.

"We just need some coverage," Girardi said, a reference to the toll a Red Sox-Yankees series can take on a bullpen. "Our thought was we probably wouldn't be able to use Buddy for a couple of days . . . We felt like we have coverage from Hector today, and if we have to make another move, we'll make another move."

Pair of aces

CC Sabathia (3-2, 2.89) is scheduled to face Josh Beckett (2-1, 1.99) Saturday night in the second game of the series. Sabathia, 3-0 with a 0.91 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox at the Stadium, has made no secret of the fact that he enjoys the energy of the rivalry.

"I think CC loves the competition. I think he embraces it," Girardi said. "I think he looks forward to it. I think he looks forward to being the ace of the staff and trying to get big wins for the club. I think he loves it."

Extra bases

Rafael Soriano, out all week with right elbow soreness, pitched into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth . . . Girardi saw positives in Alex Rodriguez's at-bats Thursday although he saw his average drop to .259. He did hit his sixth homer. A-Rod singled with one out in the fourth for the first hit off Clay Buchholz Friday night.