Girardi blames Hughes' poor outing on mechanics

Yankees "can't-miss" pitching prospect Phil Hughes couldn't get anyone out last night. While that's an exaggeration (he got five hitters out), he allowed eight earned runs in the process.

Why did Hughes pitch so poorly?

Yankees manager Joe Girardi says it was due to poor mechanics (dropping his arm slot and pushing the ball).

"The talent is there," Girardi said. "We just have to make an adjustment."

"For some reason or another, it just popped up tonight," Hughes said. "You've gotta find a way to get through it," he said.

"You still have to figure he'll put it all together eventually," said one AL scout at Saturday night's game. "But he's had enough things happen that maybe you have to wonder if it's more than the normal bumps in the road."

In three starts since getting called back up, Hughes has pitched six innings, four innings and now 1 2/3 innings. After allowing no runs in his first outing, he has allowed 11 runs in his past two.