WHY PHIL HUGHES IS ON A MISSION

If someone would have told me that Phil Hughes would pitch the way he pitched tonight, I would have told you that you were crazy. I just had a conversation with my buddy Scott earlier today. This is basically how it went:



Scott: "So how would you line up the rotation?"

Casey: "CC, Nova, Garcia, Burnett, Hughes."

Scott: "Hughes before Burnett."

Casey: "You're friggin' crazy, Hughes had Dead arm, he's done nothing this year."

Scott: "Hughes pitched great last outing, plus Burnett can't go past 5, so you need the bullpen and CC will at least go 7 innings the next outing. It makes sense."

(Photo: Getty)

Clearly I don't know what I'm talking about so I guess Scott should start up Bleeding Scott Blue because he's smarter than me.



Phil Hughes was awesome. No doubt about it. 7.2 innings pitched, he allowed 2 hits, and just 1 earned run. He also struck out 2 and walked 3. What can you say, it may have taken all season, but he's definitely back at this point.(Photo: Getty)

Russell Martin is back as well, 2 home runs and he just looked exactly how he started the season... on fire. You tend to forget just how good he could be because he struggled a bit at the plate this season and our offense has been great, so it's lost in the mix, but Russell Martin looked wonderful tonight and the bottom line... if he can get hot again at this point in the season, we welcome it in Yankeeland. We love to see this guy hitting. He's hit 4 home runs in August. Nice.Robinson Cano had a nice RBI double in the fourth inning and he was the guy who gave the Yankees the lead.



Mark Teixeira had 2 hits and 3 RBIs tonight. Look, I have a fascination with Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira and I love my theory of an exciting Home Run race between the two of them. It's clearly not as exciting as Mantle and Maris, but it's exciting just the same. Even if they're not homering every game, they're hitting and I love it.



The Captain, Derek Jeter is batting .292 now but the big story is his running abilities tonight. In the fifth inning, Jeter had a nice slide to home plate and he beat out a couple of infield hits. What can you say, the Captain is awesome. Right now Ladies and Gentlemen... I like what I see.



Final Score: Yankees 8 - Twins 1. AJ Burnett tomorrow freaks, say a prayer. Go Yanks!



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