Yankees hold Bisons to one run
In the Yankees' 6-1 victory over the Buffalo Bisons, Hughes pitched 7.2 innings and struck out seven. His first walk came in the eighth inning with two outs and no men on base.
"He produced outs with a variety of pitches," said pitching coach Scott Aldred. "His curveball was outstanding. He used it in the counts. He had some good patterns that he mixed up."
Hughes snagged those seven strikeouts, Aldred said, with two fastballs, four curveballs and a cutter.
"We want him to be able to use any pitches in any count," Aldred said. "He should feel confident than he can do it."
And the Yankees produced the runs to back the defensive effort.
The situation facing Todd Linden in his third inning at-bat looked similar to the first inning: two on and one out.
"In that first at bat, two pitches into it, I was just not ready for that velocity," Linden said. "It set the stage for the next AB."
Linden took advantage of the set up the second time around and doubled to right field to score Doug Bernier and John Rodriguez, notching the first Yankee runs.
"(Bisons pitcher Freddy) Garcia knows how to pitch, but we were able to capitalize with Linden's big double," manager Dave Miley said.
Linden also added a leadoff homerun in the sixth.
"You know Todd Linden's track record, and you know he puts numbers up now like he did in the past," Miley said. "He may have started out a little slow, but he's been huge for us."
The Yankees broke open the game in the seventh - an inning in which Eric Duncan doubled and Angel Berroa, Chris Stewart and Bernier each singled.
Bernier also walked once and posted two doubles, once of which led off the game.
"I've been seeing the ball well," he said. "Especially in my first at bat, I tried to see as many pitches as I can, so my team can see what they're pitching."
Following a day off Thursday, the Yankees face the Rochester Red Wings at Frontier Field Friday at 7:05 p.m.