• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Hughes takes ball for Yankees in finale at Toronto

Jul 17, 2011 - 2:59 PM (Sports Network) - Phil Hughes is slated to make his second start since coming off of the disabled list and the New York Yankees will try to take down the Toronto Blue Jays for a second straight time Sunday in the finale of a four- game series at Rogers Centre.

The hard-throwing right-hander entered this season with high hopes, but after just two horrendous starts back in April Hughes found himself on the disabled list.

In a road matchup at Cleveland on July 6, Hughes held the first-place Indians to just two runs on six hits in five innings. It was not a spectacular effort, but considering he surrendered 16 runs in his previous three starts, it was a step in the right direction.

Hughes is no stranger to the Blue Jays, as this will be his 10th start against them. Overall the right-hander has made 16 appearances against Toronto and in that time he has accumulated a 4.84 earned run average to go along with a 2-3 ledger.

One of the bright spots for the Blue Jays this season has been the success of Carlos Villanueva since moving from the bullpen to the rotation.

Overall on the season the veteran right-hander is 5-1, but four of those victories have come as a starter. The last time he was on the mound, the big righty tossed six scoreless innings against Cleveland on July 7. However, he did not receive any run support and settled for a no-decision.

One of his victories as a starter came earlier this season against the Bronx Bombers on May 23, as Villanueva limited the Yanks to just one run on two hits in five innings of work.

Yesterday, CC Sabathia tossed eight innings of one-run ball as the Yankees took a 4-1 victory over the Blue Jays.

Sabathia (14-4) allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out eight to extend his personal win streak to seven straight starts. Sabathia said his slider was a big asset.

"It was pretty good today," he said. "It's been a lot better the last couple of games, but today it worked pretty good. We were able to use it with two strikes."

Mariano Rivera threw a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 23rd save of the year as New York won for the third time in five games and remained 1 1/2 games behind Boston for the AL East lead. Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI and Brett Gardner finished with three hits in the win. Jeter matched Al Kaline for 26th on baseball's career hit list with 3,007.

Ricky Romero (7-9) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on six hits and three walks while fanning seven through five innings to suffer the loss for the Blue Jays. He's 0-2 over his last three starts.

Yunel Escobar knocked in the lone run for Toronto, which saw its five-game win streak snapped. Toronto third baseman and home run leader Jose Bautista missed his second straight game with an injured ankle and is day-to-day.

"That's still optimistic," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said of a Sunday return for Bautista. "We're not going to make a decision if he's in any kind of gray area. We'll certainly take the conservative route at that point."