It has been clear for some time the main reason the Yankees haven't seriously considered removing Phil Hughes from the starting rotation was the fact they had no one else to turn to.
That might not be the case anymore.
Manager Joe Girardi said he wasn't prepared to make any moves following yesterday's 9-1 demolition of the White Sox, but he also didn't say Hughes was guaranteed another start after a rain-shortened outing.
"I haven't made any decisions about changing the rotation," the manager said. "It's unfortunate the rain came after 1 1/3 innings and we had to do this."
Paul J. Bereswill
PEN-ULTIMATE: Thanks to a solid relief outing following a rain delay yesterday, David Huff has forced his way into the rotation conversation after the Yankees' 9-1 trouncing of the White Sox yesterday.
Getty Images
GARDY TIME: Brett Gardner laces a first-inning double during the Yankees' 9-1 triumph yesterday.
Hughes' day ended after the game was delayed for 1 hour, 53 minutes in the top of the second, and lefty David Huff took over and was fantastic, limiting the White Sox to only a seventh-inning homer by Paul Konerko.
Claimed off waivers from the Indians in May, Huff has been excellent of late. He also tossed five shutout innings against the Blue Jays on Aug. 21 and 3 1/3 scoreless innings against Toronto five days later.
Yesterday, he went 5 2/3 innings and improved to 2-0.
"Those were big innings for us," Girardi said. "We didn't have to use four or five guys."
When asked if he might use Huff as a starter again, Girardi made no guarantees.
"I don't know what we're going to do," he said. "I have to see how our starters are physically doing, if someone needs an extra day. We'll play it by ear, I guess."
The Yankees were able to keep pace with the A's and Orioles — and pick up a game on the Rays — thanks to an eight-run fourth inning that made Huff's job easier.
The Yankees started the fourth with seven straight baserunners reaching against Dylan Axelrod. All came around to score.
Alex Rodriguez led off with a double to right, stumbling between first and second, but arriving safely. Vernon Wells followed with a comebacker Axelrod couldn't come up with for a single and Rodriguez stayed at second. A walk to Curtis Granderson loaded the bases for Mark Reynolds, who was credited with an infield hit on his grounder to third, scoring Rodriguez.
Austin Romine then delivered a two-run single before Brett Gardner doubled for the second time in the game to knock in another run. Jeter's single added another run and Alfonso Soriano's double to left knocked in yet another. Wells hit into a fielder's choice that first baseman Adam Dunn threw away, allowing two more runs to score.
None of that helped Hughes, who hasn't won since July 2 — or at Yankee Stadium since May 15.
"He looked really good," Romine said of Hughes' brief appearance. "That's just how it's going for him ... I firmly thought this was the one he'd turn it around."
The catcher was also impressed with Huff, who Romine said commanded both sides of the plate well.
Before the game, Girardi acknowledged another bad performance could cost Hughes his spot in the rotation — and a lack of better options had likely preserved it this long.
"You look at what he's done in the past and he's struggled this year at times, there's no doubt about it," Girardi said. "You could talk about replacing him, but two of the guys we possibly would have replaced him with [David Phelps and Michael Pineda] are injured, so he has to get it done and we expect him to get it done."
With Phelps only playing catch and not close to returning and Pineda mostly just an afterthought at this point, Girardi's options could now include Huff.
And with the Yankees having no margin for error the rest of the year, Hughes may be running out of time.
"I'm obviously available and ready to go," Hughes said, insisting he wasn't bitter about his fate yesterday. "A win's a win. We need every one we can get at this point."
