Major League Baseball

HUGHES-MONGOUS!; PHIL DOMINATES IN FIRST PLAYOFF START

Published Oct. 11, 2010 10:10 p.m. ET

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Three years ago, Phil Hughes nearly became a Twin. Last night, he ended their season.

Hughes pitched seven shutout innings in the Bombers' 6-1 ALDS-clinching victory over the Twins last night at the Stadium, allowing four hits and one walk in the 24-year-old's biggest moment as a Yankee.

After entering the season as the team's No. 5 starter, Hughes delivered the knockout blow to the Twins and propelled the Yankees into the ALCS for the second straight year.

The talk entering the playoffs was the Yankees had no sure things beyond CC Sabathia in their rotation. That wasn't lost on Hughes.

"That was the word going around," Hughes said. "We knew what we had. This was a good formula for us all year. We know we're capable of throwing the ball well. Obviously, CC carries us but we have some formidable guys behind him."

Pitching coach Dave Eiland said he saw the spark in Hughes after hearing all the "CC, then who?" talk.

"We liked it," Eiland said. "We thrive off that kind of stuff. There's no greater joy than proving people wrong. Everybody in this room knew we were going to pitch well. We struggled down the stretch, sure we did. That's baseball. That's part of the game."

Hughes pitched his best game since the first half of the season when he was good enough to make the All-Star team. He spotted his fastball in the first four innings with ease and mixed in a nasty curveball. The cool Californian struck out six Twins, and did not give up a hit until the fourth.

In December 2007, Hughes nearly found himself shipped from The Bronx to Minnesota. Hank Steinbrenner wanted Johan Santana at nearly any cost. Hughes, Melky Cabrera and two minor leaguers were on the table but the Twins got greedy and wanted more. Eventually others in the organization talked Steinbrenner out of making the deal and Hughes stayed with the team.

General manager Brian Cashman was one of those who wanted to keep Hughes. The Yankees had not developed a pitcher through their farm system since Andy Pettitte in the mid-'90's. Cashman saw the need to hold on to some of his young chips.

He looked smart last night as Hughes' ball danced around the strike zone making Twins batters look silly.

Hughes became the first Yankees starter since Mike Mussina in the 2001 ALDS Game 3 to pitch seven innings and give up no runs in a postseason game.

"It was kind of a coming out party for him," Alex Rodriguez said. "That was a 'Hello America.' To come out in this position on national TV in a huge position for us. . . . He completely shut them down."

The only time Hughes looked off was in the top of the fifth after a 27-minute Yankees' fourth when they scored three runs. He gave up a single and his only walk in the fifth before striking out Michael Cuddyer and getting Danny Valencia to groundout and end the inning.

Hughes' outing provided validation for the way the Yankees handled him this year, restricting his innings. Hughes pitched 176 1/3 innings during the regular season, and he pitched on 12 days' rest last night after making his final start of the regular season on Sept. 26 against the Red Sox. A year after stumbling in the postseason as a reliever, Hughes pitched them closer to another championship.

Phillin’ up

Phil Hughes shined in his first playoff start. Here’s a look at his numbers:

IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA

7 4 0 0 1 6 0 0.00

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