Hughes protects lead, Yanks now 2 1/2 up on Rays

Phil Hughes wasn't as sharp as he was last Wednesday against the Rays but last night, he avoided what he could not in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The big mistake.

Hughes, aided by a five-run first inning, overcame some early command problems to produce a quality start and help the Yankees to an 8-3 victory over the Rays in front of 46,609 at the Stadium.

The Yankees (92-59) pushed their lead over the Rays to 2 1/2 games, a cushion they haven't enjoyed since leaving town Sept. 9 for the recently completed nine-game, three-city trip in which they went 3-6.

Nick Swisher's 27th homer highlighted the Yankees' five-run first off James Shields.

"We've been playing good," said Derek Jeter, who went 2-for-5 and is 11 for his last 30. "On the road trip, we played some good teams and there were a lot of games that could have gone either way and didn't go our way. But right now, it seems like things are starting to click a little bit.''

It was Hughes' second straight strong start after being skipped.

"Everyone wanted to say that was going to hurt me," said Hughes, who allowed three runs and four hits in 61/3 innings. "I just took the approach of using it as a positive. I felt I got a lot of things on track. I wasn't great tonight but it was a step in the right direction."

He struck out six and walked five but avoided the kind of crushing pitches like last Wednesday, when he allowed two, two-run homers to Dan Johnson in a 4-3 loss.

"I didn't think he had command of his curveball that he had in Tampa," Joe Girardi said. "That caused him to get in a few long counts. But he seemed to get stronger as the game went on. I liked what I saw."

And, as he's done in many of his starts this season when he hasn't been at his best, Hughes limited the damage. Last night, in large part, that was because of his changeup, a pitch he worked on all spring.

"We've seen him use it a lot more the last two starts and it's becoming a weapon for him," Girardi said.

Said Hughes: "Right out of the get-go, I threw some pretty good ones, so I thought, this is a pitch I can really lean on tonight."

Hughes, at an innings limit believed to be around 175 for the regular season, is at 1691/3. Girardi said, "That's something we'll talk about the next week" on how the innings will be managed the rest of the way.

Hughes said physically he feels good and that last night, his velocity was "the best it's been in a while." The 24-year-old hopes to continue building toward the postseason.

"I pitched well at the beginning of the year, then hit a rough spot and I've been trying to get out of it," said Hughes, who came in 5-6 with a 5.37 ERA in the season's second half. "If I can put together some good starts, I think that really helps. As much as our coaching staff and say we're going to rest our guys and we don't care if we win the division or the wild card, everyone in this room wants to win this division.''