We told you in the top of the second inning that Phil Hughes started throwing in the Yankees bullpen after Magglio Ordonez hit a double off Ivan Nova. Now in the top of the third, Hughes has made an early entrance into the game.
Yankees vs. Tigers: Phil Hughes Replaces Ivan Nova In Third
Oh, but between those, the Yankees went and didn't score against Doug Fister again. Mark Teixeira hit a one-out automatic double to right-center to put a runner in scoring position, but Fister induced a Nick Swisher groundout, and then froze Jorge Posada to escape the modest jam.
That’s what took us to the third, and that’s when we found out that Nova was finished, having thrown just 31 pitches over two innings with two homers allowed. On the one hand, it’s a very hasty hook on Joe Girardi’s part, given how much Nova did for the team during the season. But on the other hand, Girardi has a rested bullpen, and ERA be damned, Nova just isn’t that great. Girardi’s relievers are just as good, if not better, so this is an aggressive managerial move I can get behind.
2-0 Tigers in the third. One wonders if we'll see CC Sabathia sometime soon. One wonders if the Yankees will score. The Yankees will probably score, but for most of the innings Fister has pitched against them in this series, they've looked pretty feeble.
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