The Yanks aint got no alibi

That game was ugly.

Over the course of a 162-game season there’s bound to be some clunkers like Tuesday night’s abortion. There’s nothing you can do about it but put it out of your mind and come back the next day ready to play. Hopefully they do just that.

Instead of going into great detail, here are some facts about that atrocity:

• Sean O’Sullivan (SULLY!!!!) retired 17 of the final 18 batters he faced.
• Hughes — who finished with a line of five-plus innings pitched, nine hits, six runs, three walks, two strikeouts and two homers — also made his first start of the season against the Angels on April 15, when he went five innings and gave up three hits, two runs, five walks, six strikeouts and a homer to Matsui (who also went deep Tuesday). The Yanks won that one 6-2, though.
• Phil was averaging 104 pitches per outing, with his season high being 117 and season low being 94. He threw 98 on Tuesday, with 57 going for strikes.
• Hughsie has now allowed nine homers in his last six starts after yielding four in his first 11 starts. All 13 of his dingers have come at Yankee Stadium.
• Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-4 Tuesday, is hitting .147/.171/.176 since the start of the Seattle series. (H/T Mike Axisa)
• Swisher hit his 150th career homer in the first inning (17th of the year).
• A-Rod recorded his 467th career double.
• The Yanks have not won a season series against the Halos since 2003…but they did when it mattered — the 2009 ALCS.
• Mike Napoli — he of the .261/.330/.504 line on the year — went 3-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and two runs scored. His career OPS against the Yanks is 1.174, which is the highest OPS against the Yanks since 1920 (minimum 85 plate appearances).
• Posada caught his fifth and sixth runners stealing on the year (both were Abreu) in 39 tries. Meanwhile, Frankie Cervelli has caught just four of 36.
• Girardi was tossed in the sixth for arguing that Tex was safe at first on a grounder. Perhaps he was paying homage to Lou Piniella, who announced he was retiring at season’s end. It was his ninth ejection as manager of the Yankees, third this season and 11th of his career.
• The Yanks fell to 34-10 when scoring first.
• The Yanks have still won 10 of their last 13 games, although you wouldn’t have known it with the way they played on Tuesday.

Next up the Yanks play the finale of this two-game set with Javy going against Joel Pineiro at 1:05 tomorrow. Many questions will be answered: can The Kid move to a career-high 5-0 at The Stadium? Will A-Rod hit two bombs for number 600*? Do the Yanks improve upon their 2 1/2-game lead in the division and dwindle their magic number down? Tune in tomorrow for the answer to these questions and more.

*Fun fact: I was at the game before A-Rod hit HR number 500 so it would only be fitting if doesn’t launch 600 until Thursday. Plus, he hit #500 against the Royals and KC comes to town for a four-game set starting on Thursday…so it’s not looking good for Andy C’s bid for history.

LET’S GO YANKS!!!!!