Game 28: Yankees lose 6-4

Phil Hughes once again did not live up to expectations and taxed the bullpen in a 6-4 loss at the hands of the Detroit Tigers Tuesday night.

Hughes (0-4) threw 82 pitches in 3 2-3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. Three of those runs came on home runs - a solo shot by Curtis Granderson and a two-run home run by ex-Yankee Gary Sheffield. The Yankees are now 2-9 in games started by either Hughes or Ian Kennedy.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Granderson led off with a walk and advanced to second on a Placido Polanco single. After Sheffield struck out, the two runners advanced on a wild pitch. Magglio Ordonez then drove both home on a single to center.

The home Yankees evened the score against Kenny Rogers (2-3) in the bottom of the second inning on a Robinson Cano two-run home run. It was his second home run of the season.

Hughes pitched a scoreless second but ran into trouble in the third when he gave up those two home runs. He ran into even more trouble in the fourth when he allowed a one-out double, walk and RBI single before being taken out.

Ross Ohlendorf came into the game to relieve Hughes. He gave the Yankees 3 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out five and walking one. Edwar Ramirez and LaTroy Hawkins pitched one scoreless inning each to close out the game. Both allowed one hit, while Ramirez struck out a batter.

The Yankees were able to rally with runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but it was too little to late.

They fall back to even on the season - 14-14 - while Detroit improves to 12-15. Andy Pettitte will face Jeremy Bonderman tomorrow night as the Yankees look to rebound.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)