Hughes exits after 3 2/3 as Blue Jays beat Yankees

TORONTO - From a distance standpoint, another start or two like that and the Yankees won't have to worry about skipping Phil Hughes. But if that occurs, the concern might be about something altogether different.

Hughes, in his shortest outing of the season, lasted only 32/3 innings last night in a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Hughes, on an innings limit believed to be in the neighborhood of 175, is at 1441/3 after allowing five runs, six hits and five walks. And he needed 102 pitches to get that far, a number he'd throw in a typical six- or seven-inning start.

"He just never got in a rhythm from the first hitter on," manager Joe Girardi said.

The Yankees, who lost two of three here, missed a chance to pull a game ahead of the Rays, who lost in Anaheim.

Javier Vazquez, skipped from his rotation turn Sunday, relieved Hughes (15-6) with two outs in the fourth and pitched well. He allowed a solo home run to Aaron Hill in the fifth but was otherwise good in his 41/3 innings, giving up two hits and retiring his last 10 hitters.

"I was aggressive, threw strikes and didn't try to be too fine today," said Vazquez, who touched 90 mph with his fastball several times and said it felt "weird" coming out of the pen. "But I felt good out there. To go out there and throw some zeroes up there is good for me."

The Yankees had too many innings with zeroes, though they did get the tying run to first in the ninth. Reliever Jason Frasor walked two batters with two outs and was replaced by closer Kevin Gregg, who gave up an RBI single to Eduardo Nuñez that made it 6-3. Derek Jeter was hit by a 3-and-2 pitch, ending a 10-pitch battle, to load the bases, but Curtis Granderson flied out to deep center to end it.

"We had a chance to win all three of these games," Girardi said.

Toronto's Brett Cecil (11-6) mostly cruised, allowing two runs and seven hits in eight innings, aided by two double plays. He did have trouble with Marcus Thames, who doubled his first time up and crushed a two-run homer in the fourth. He improved to .354 against lefthanders this season.

A negative trend for Hughes continued - failing to put away hitters, a problem even in some of his victories.

In the first he walked leadoff man Fred Lewis, who scored on Vernon Wells' triple that came on a 1-and-2 pitch. A passed ball charged to Jorge Posada made it 2-0.

Of the first 10 Blue Jays who reached base, Hughes had two strikes on all of them, and 12 times he had two strikes on a hitter who got on. "That stat can't happen," Hughes said. "The pitch count was out of control."

In the third, Hughes walked Jose Bautista, and Wells (four RBIs) slammed an 0-and-2 pitch to deep left for his 23rd home run and a 4-0 lead. After Thames made it 4-2 with his sixth homer, the Jays got one back in the fourth to make it 5-2 and finish Hughes' night.

"You have 100 pitches to work with and I can't get through four. I definitely didn't do my job as a starter," Hughes said.

"Fortunately, Javy came in to save some of those [bullpen] arms out there. But when you have to win this third game and I kind of lose it for us right off the bat, it's pretty tough to swallow."