Hughes was throwing that ‘slow’ 92 MPH FB by good ML hitters. That is because he has good late movement on his FB. That was a taste of what Hughes can and will do.

The last pitch Joba threw was 102 on the YES gun. The batter did not swing and miss but hit a weak pop up. Velocity is good, less velocity with late movement can be just as good, even better.

Light a candle or two for Hughes and Joba. That they keep their arms healthy and stay stable. Then buckle up, it could be some ride the next ten years. Even sans Alex!

ken, you could definitely see the slider and changeups on TV. those arent new pitches, but he’s bene using them sparingly this year. his slider was actually his breaking ball of choice out of HS, but Nardi made him shelve it to work on his curve. now that his curve is (usually) so good, he’s adding in some sliders.

the YES gun had his FB 87-94, his curve 69-72, and his slider 78-80, as was his changeup. he got one swinging strike on the change (his best of the night), and threw a few more that sailed way high. it’s a pitch he’s still working on, but he HAS to use it imo. i’d estimate he threw 60% FBs, 25% curves, 15% changes and sliders. if not for that string of 7 straight bad pitches (Guillen went from 0-2 to a walk, then 2-0 on Ibanez before the HR), he probably pitches a shutout. oh, and the ump definitely squeezed him a few times unlike washburn.

To this untrained eye… I thought I saw one slider, a few two-seamers, and a couple of changes (I don’t remember the batter, but he even doubled up on the change once).

He definitely mixed his pitches up more last night. Why they didn’t do this in the last few games is a mystery. They did it with Kennedy in his debut. (They also did it with Hughes in Texas and against the Indians).

More importantly, his command was back (for the most part). He was really hitting that outside corner.

A couple of calls went the Yankees’ way, but the home-plate ump was absolutely horrible. He had an inconsistent zone for everyone all night.

I was at the game last night, and it was a fun one to watch. I knew Ichiro had to be safe on that stolen base, because he never complains about anything, but great job by Molina, he had the ball in Jeter’s hand when Ichiro was 10 feet from the bag.

Quick question on Hughes for those of you who watched on TV. One of the concerns I’ve had with watching Hughes so far is that he’s only featured two pitches – 89-92 MPH Fastball, and a mid 70′s curve. Last night they flashed two “new” pitches I hadn’t seen Hughes throw before – and Slider, and a Change, both hovering in the high 70′s low 80′s. I was wondering if those pitches “looked” like sliders or change-ups on TV, or were they just poorly thrown curves?

If Hughes is getting comfortable enough to throw more of his pitches to big league hitters, that could really help him down the stretch, in my opinion.

Raf, I think the M’s manager made more in inning pitching changes last night. Gawd that was dull.

I took a look at that boxscore; 16 runs were scored, and the game took only 2:28

Last night 12 runs were scored, and that game took 3:00.

Steve. I have a challenge for you. It’s a hard one.

For the next week, do not say anything like this:
“If the Yankees go 4-5, or worse, in these games, it would be depressing, to say the least – especially after the way they played tonight and yesterday.”

I know it’ll be hard, but be optimistic! Have faith! I know they haven’t given us THAT much reason to this season, but we’re fans! Have faith, and don’t think about the BAD things that could happen. Just look at the game ahead and say, “Ok. We scored 8 runs in one inning last night. We CAN score. We’re good to go.” You didn’t think this team had a chance earlier in the season, and now this team leads the wild card, does it not?

Oh, and last night was the first time I’d been to a game started by Phil Hughes, so I’ll be accepting any and all ticket donations of future tickets, as I seem to be his good luck charm. Thank you that is all.

I have to second rbj’s comments about the umpiring, that ump behind home plate was f’ing awful. The calls that went against Seattle were very bad, but I guess this is payback for that caught stealing back in May that was called safe. It’s not like Seattle isn’t already used to bad officiating, so this is pretty normal for the Java pushers of the West.

I’d just like to (again) point out that “One Man Does Not Make a Team”, if you take away ARod’s RBIs then the Yanks still win 7 – 2 so Steve is absolutely correct in that we should let him walk. He’s really not “needed”. That first homerun was nice and all but again…one man does not make a team and we should just let him walk and get grinder types like Joe Crede or Brandon Inge. Those guys are the players the Yanks “need”.

I’m not here to defend Cashman because he made one really bad mistake with Kei Igawa, I like Cashman but a mistake that bad is often a firable offense in any industry, BUT he has done a great job in fixing his mistakes and making this team better. It all started with the Jose Molina trade, one that some people didn’t think it’d improve the Yanks all much from Wil Nieves. I’m still in Cash’s corner, but he can’t ever have another Kei Igawa signing again.

Great job by Molina yesterday, though his trying to stretch a single into a double was hilarious and f’ing LUCKY on his part. Loved the way Melky came through in the 7th after having a bad at-bat with Molina on 3rd in the prior inning. Great hustle by Damon, awesome job by Shelly Duncan, great job by the starter and bullpen, really good game to watch.

Lastly, Yanks should DFA ARod before the playoffs…

Obviously the Yankees should let Alex walk after this season. After all, he’s only powering them into the lead of the WC race at this point.

Hard to tell about Hughes last night, the ump was bad.

Hughes’ command still wasn’t where it will be, but it was better. The curve, however, was on. And the velocity was just fine, thank you very much