Yankees win behind Hughes and Martin

The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins by the score of 8-1 on Friday night. Phil Hughes made the start and pitched great. The offense was good, led by Russell Martin. Derek Jeter continued to get his, Teixiera had a big game with three RBI.
Hughes pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up one run on two hits. He walked three and struck out two. Hughes improved to 4-4 on the season. Boone Logan got the only batter out that he faced. Luis Ayala pitched one perfect inning with a strikeout.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Jeter had two hits and Curtis Granderson had two hits an RBI and two walks. Teixeira had two hits and three RBI, Robinson Cano had a hit and an RBI and Nick Swisher had a hit. Jorge Posada had a hit and a walk and Martin had three hits and three RBI. Teixeira had two doubles, Cano and Granderson each had one. Martin had two homeruns. The Yankees were 3-11 with runners in scoring position with eight men left on base. Granderson had a stolen base.

Trevor Plouffe hit a solo homerun in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Martin hit a solo homerun in the third inning to tie the game at one. In the fourth inning Cano hit an RBI double to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. In the fifth Granderson had an RBI double and Teixeira a sacrifice fly. The Yankees had a 4-1 lead which seemed insurmountable the way Hughes was pitching. In the sixth Martin hit a two run homerun to make it 6-1. In the ninth inning Teixeira hit a two run double to make it 8-1 and finish the scoring.

The Yankees have won the first two of four in Minnesota. They are also 4-1 on their current seven game road trip. The Yankees remain ½ a game in front of the Boston Red Sox who also won on this night. The Yankees and Twins will play game three on Saturday night. The Yankees look like they will wait until Sunday to activate Alex Rodriguez. Freddy Garcia was placed on the disabled list on Friday but it is retroactive and he will return next Saturday in Baltimore to pitch in a doubleheader. Hughes pitched as good as he has all year, he continues to get better with each start and if he keeps pitching this way he could be their number two starter in the postseason, I think the Yankees would like that.