Game 14, Its right in front of you Hughes!! Get it, Quick!! Before it’s too…darn.
Hughes was in the zone last night, and when I say in the zone, I mean smack dab in the middle. He was throwing were he wanted, getting Ks, getting outs, only 1 walk until the eighth! 1 baserunner! Anyways, Hughes had a no hitter through 7, and then the 8th happened. First batter, Crack! Ball comes right back at Hughes (worst case scenario) Hughes reacts, ball bounces off his glove, off his chest, to the ground in front of him. He’s looking up like it went in the air and he could catch it on the way back to earth, whilst the ball is laying on the ground, no more than 5 feet away, WHILST, Eric Chaves runs to first. I was screaming at the TV, “Its right there!! Grab it, Quick! Ah, you found it, just in time to see the runner step on the base…”Ahhh, what a way to give up a no hitter, getting hit in the gut. Oh well, he struck out the next guy, walked the 3rd batter and was taken out for Joba.
Joba comes in, gives up 1 hit that allows one of Hughes guys to score, but then gets out of it. Rivera cam in for the save, looks to give the Athletics a chance by giving up a single and hitting a batter, but gets himself out of it all the same. So, Hughes pitched 7.1 innings, allowing 1 ER on 1 hit with 2 walks and 10 strike outs.
The lineup offered little support for Hughes in this game, but that is ok, he went 7 without giving up a hit. Rodriguez tripled in the forth, the Cano tripled in the forth, the Posada..grounded out. 2 runs scored in the inning, then the eighth happened and Oakland got 1. Posada singled, Granderson got on with a fielders choice, Winn grounded out (Granderson to 2nd) and Gardner singled to score Granderson. 3-1, final.
So, Hughes got into the eighth without giving up a hit. Look familiar? CC did the same against the Rays just last week. So, we got our first in the rotation so close to a no hitter, and we got our fifth in the rotation so close to a no hitter! I don’t think anyone can argue now that the Yankees have the best starters in the league. If anyone does want to argue, ok, have at it.
Rami's aNYthing Yankees 