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Overall, the Yankees are 23-21, so at best you can probably give the team a grade of C, maybe even a D. But let’s look at the individual marks and see who is carrying his end of the $200 million bargain -- and who is not.

Phil Hughes finished with a solid line on Tuesday, going six innings and allowing just two runs on five hits. He struck out seven.

Hughes' extended his Yankee record of allowing at least one home run in each and everyone of his start. After Jeff Francoeur's solo homer in the fourth, Hughes has now given up a homer in each of his nine starts. He is the first major league pitcher to do that since Runelvys Hernandez did it with the Royals in 2006. After 2006, Hernandez made a total of four more major league starts.

Hughes escaped trouble in the sixth. After the Yankees gave him his first lead, 3-2, he proceeded to walk the leadoff man in the inning. He gave up a single and another walk before getting Irving Falu to flyout to left and striking out Alcides Escobar to end the inning.

Phil Hughes Stats to Watch For

Hughes is coming off his two best starts of the season, winning both games while posting a 2.51 ERA and 11-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Only twice before in his career has Hughes won at least three starts in a row, and he hasn't done it since June 2010. Also, if Hughes can deliver his third straight quality start tonight, he'll match his career-best streak, which he did three times during his 2010 All-Star season.

Early in the season Hughes struggled to put away batters. In his first four starts, opponents were 8-for-20 with five extra-base hits after an 0-2 count, tagging him for an unsightly .750 slugging percentage and 1.179 OPS. Since then, he has allowed just three hits and gotten 14 outs after an 0-2 count.

Despite his recent success, Hughes is still prone to giving up the long ball. He has allowed nine homers in 36 innings this season and at least one in each of his seven starts. That matches the longest such streak to start a season by a Yankee in the Live Ball Era, a feat also achieved by Tim Leary in 1990.

Hughes has pitched well against the current Blue Jays lineup, holding them to a collective .211 batting average and .597 OPS in his career. He has been at his best when facing Adam Lind, who is just 4-for-22 versus Hughes and has struck out in nearly half of his plate appearances.

He has also been able to shut down Jose Bautista, who has just three singles in 12 at-bats against Hughes. Hughes has consistently worked away from Bautista, throwing 60 percent of his pitches to him on the outer third of the plate, and recording all three of his strikeouts on pitches to that location.

Drew Hutchinson Stats to Watch For

The 21-year-old rookie is perhaps most famous (or infamous) for allowing the much-anticipated first homer of the season to Albert Pujols on May 6. Like Hughes, Hutchinson is also coming off the best start of his season, having thrown six innings of one-run ball at Minnesota on May 12.

He has had a lot of trouble pitching from the stretch, allowing a .362/.426/.553 line with runners on base compared to .231/.286/.369 with the bases empty. In his most recent start, however, he held the Twins to just one hit in seven at-bats with men on base, though he did walk three batters.

Hutchinson has been nearly unhittable the first time through the lineup (.167 BA), but has really struggled to get outs after that. The second, third and fourth times through the order he has yielded 25 hits and gotten 45 outs (.357 BA) while recording nearly as many strikeouts (8) as walks (7).

Stat of the game

This will be the first time the Yankees have seen Hutchinson. No need to jump off the ledge, though, Yankees fans. Over the last two seasons, the Yankees are 20-5 in games started by pitchers they have never faced before, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

NEW YORK -- Phil Hughes has been pitching with a different mentality on the mound: a reliever's mentality.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Hughes and pitching coach Larry Rothschild "talked about [Hughes] being more aggressive and going as long as you can, and as hard as you can, because he was so successful coming out of the bullpen [in 2009].

"It's been a mentality we want him to take on."

Mission accomplished on Saturday. In a season-high 7 2/3 innings, Hughes (3-4) allowed just one earned run on six hits to earn his second straight victory as the Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-2 at Yankee Stadium.

"He was outstanding. He was really being aggressive getting strike one and pounding the inner part of the plate against their left-handed hitters," batterymate Russell Martin said. "He's going out there and not holding anything back."

In his last two starts, Hughes has given up four earned runs in 14 1/3 innings, while lowering his ERA from 7.48 to 5.50.

"I probably didn't have my best stuff," said Hughes, who mostly utilized his 92-95 mph fastball and mid-to-upper-70s curveball on Saturday. "But my changeup allowed me to get out of some jams out there."

He wasn't in many. Facing an anemic Seattle offense that came in ranked 29th in on-base percentage and 21st in runs scored, Hughes was in control.

He allowed just one extra-base hit -- Mike Carp's solo homer with two outs in the seventh that ended his shutout bid -- and induced 13 fly-ball outs.

"My stuff's been good," Hughes said. "As long as I get better and give us some length, I'm happy with that."

Since 2011 -- a span of 21 starts -- Hughes has finished the seventh inning just twice. So this was no small feat, especially for a young hurler who has struggled to be economical and left plenty of pitches up in the zone.

Consider: He has already given up nine homers and is on pace to give up 44.

But with Andy Pettitte coming back Sunday and David Phelps headed to the bullpen, Hughes appears to have weathered the storm and solidified a spot in the rotation.

Well, for now, anyway.

"I don't try to think about that stuff," Hughes said. "I know I have to pitch well, and that doesn't change, whether I've solidified a spot in the rotation or not. I still have to pitch like I belong here."

Saturday's win was an all-around effort:

• Raul Ibañez, who went 2-for-3 with a fourth-inning home run, now has seven homers and 21 RBIs out of the No. 7 hole in the batting order.

• Jayson Nix, starting as a shortstop in the majors for the first time since 2010, connected for his first homer since June 8, 2011, when he was playing with Toronto.

• Derek Jeter, taking a DH day, had two singles and tied Tony Gwynn for 17th place on baseball's all-time hits list (3,141).

• Red-hot Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 10 games and finds himself in the midst of a 17-for-40 stretch at the plate.

But it was Hughes' outing that proved to be the most encouraging takeaway.

Yankees starters have now combined to go 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA in their last five games. Next up is Pettitte, who will make his first appearance in the majors since Oct. 18, 2010.

The Yankees would love nothing more than for Pettitte to receive the same applause once he exits the mound that Hughes did after being lifted with two outs in the eighth.

"The fans are great, they always do that," said Hughes, who exited to "Huuuuughes" chants instead of boos.

"They let you know when you're not doing so well, and they're great about letting you know when you did do pretty well."

Recap | Box score | Photos

Phil Hughes pitched his best game of the season and the Yankees drove in all their runs with two outs as they defeated the Mariners 6-2 on Saturday in the Bronx.

HUGHES THE MAN: While the Mariners' offense isn't what you'd call a juggernaut, Hughes stifled the lineup and kept his pitch count in order. He handled the Mariners with ease, avoiding troubling situations. Hughes allowed one runs and six hits.

The right-handed pitcher threw a season-high 7 2/3 innings and left the mound to chants of "Hughes" instead of the boos he's heard this year. Over his last two starts, he has pitched 14 1/3 innings, yielding 12 hits and just four runs. Hughes threw 112 pitches Saturday.

Two-OUT SPLURGE: The Yankees drove in all six of their runs with two outs. In the second inning, Raul Ibañez and Russell Martin both doubled in runs to make it 2-0, and Jayson Nix followed with his first hit as a Yankee as he blasted a two-run shot to boost the lead to 4-0.

In the fourth, Ibañez knocked his seventh homer out of the park. Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to left that scored a run in the eighth.

LONG TIME COMING: Nix's home run snapped an 0-for-20 skid. He last hit a home run on June 8, 2011, when he was with Toronto. Nix finished the day 1-for-3 filling in at shortstop for the afternoon.

RAUL'S WORLD: Ibañez continues to hit for power early in the season. He registered his seventh homer, which is tied for the second-most on team, and is now tied with Curtis Granderson for the team lead in RBIs with 21.

ROUGH DAY FOR A FORMER YANKEE: Former long reliever Hector Noesi, who was traded in the offseason in the Michael Pineda deal, struggled in his return, surrendering five runs on six hits over seven innings. Noesi has struggled as a starter for Seattle, as he's now 2-4 with a 6.32 ERA through seven starts.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Derek Jeter had two singles on Saturday and is now tied with Tony Gwynn for 17th place on the all-time hits list with 3,141 hits. One more hit will tie him with Robin Yount for 16th.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Mike Mazzeo and I will have all the clubhouse news, including Hughes on his outing, the offense and any talk about the return of a familiar southpaw Sunday.

UP NEXT: Lefty Andy Pettitte will make his much-anticipated season debut as he tries to guide the Yankees to the sweep and their fourth-straight win. Kevin Milwood (0-4, 5.88) will get the start for the Mariners. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Once Yankees general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters on Tuesday afternoon that Andy Pettitte is scheduled to make his major league return on Sunday, the speculation immediately ensued -- which current starter is losing his spot in the rotation?

"I don't want guys approaching this [next] start and saying, 'God, if I don't do well this could be my last start,'" manager Joe Girardi said on Tuesday. "We're gonna make a determination, what we feel is best for the club, and we'll move forward after Sunday."

But the truth is, how guys pitch this week could have an impact on the organization's decision.

The obvious choice to make way for Pettitte is 25-year-old David Phelps, who was just added to the rotation in place of the ineffective Freddy Garcia. Phelps made his first major league start Thursday in Kansas City.

Phelps took the loss against the Royals last week, giving up two runs on six hits in four innings of work. But he has pitched well overall after making the team as a long reliever -- he has a 3.74 ERA in seven outings, covering 21 2/3 innings.

But what if Phelps pitches lights-out in his next start -- which just so happens to be tonight, opposed by Jeff Niemann of the Rays?

Furthermore, what if Phil Hughes -- the other likely candidate to be demoted -- gets bombed on Saturday afternoon against the Mariners?

Hughes has pitched better in his past two starts, but his overall numbers for the season -- 2-4 with a 6.67 ERA -- aren't pretty. And even though the Yankees continue to insist that they envision Hughes as a starter, perhaps he would be of more value in the bullpen, now that Mariano Rivera is gone for the season. After all, Hughes has pitched very well out of the 'pen before.

The easy choice is Phelps. But the decision is more difficult than you might think.

UP NOW: Andrew Marchand's column from Tuesday night, on the Yankees' new closer, David Robertson.

ON DECK: Mark Simon will post his W2W4 (What2Watch4) game preview later this morning.

IN THE HOLE: Andrew Marchand and I will be back at the Stadium on Wednesday afternoon/evening, with full coverage of the second game of this three-game set.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who do you think should be replaced by Pettitte in the rotation?

Phil Hughes made his longest start of the season Tuesday night -- although that's not saying much, considering his previous longest outing was 5 1/3 innings on April 19 against the Twins.

On Tuesday against the Orioles, Hughes went 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on four hits, with six strikeouts and one walk.

Hughes lowered his ERA from 7.88 to 7.48. But he is still in line to drop to 1-4 on the season, as the Yankees trail the O's 4-1 in the top of the sixth.

The 25-year-old righty's goal in this start was to be more aggressive, assuming the mentality he had when he was a successful reliever with the Yankees back in 2009.

He relied heavily on his fastball early, and was hitting the mid-90s on the radar gun. But the Orioles took him out of the park twice -- both on fastballs.

Chris Davis smacked the first pitch he saw from Hughes in the second inning into the Yankees' bullpen in right-center, a solo shot. And after Hughes walked the Orioles' No. 9 hitter, Robert Andino, to lead off the third, J.J. Hardy drilled another Hughes fastball into the seats in left.

Hughes threw 100 pitches, 65 for strikes, and was removed by manager Joe Girardi after hitting Matt Wieters in the leg with two outs and no one on in the sixth. Boone Logan came on in relief and gave up back-to-back singles, accounting for the fourth run on Hughes' line for the night.

Brian Matusz Matchups to Watch
Matusz has lost 12 straight decisions dating back to last season, but had his best start of 2012 in his last start against the Blue Jays, yielding only two runs in six innings.

Matusz has allowed 15 runs in 10 2/3 innings against the Yankees during his bad stretch, including four runs in four innings in his season debut on April 9.

Derek Jeter (.500, 11 hits), Mark Teixeira (.412) and Robinson Cano (.409)all have great numbers against Matusz, who is hurt by the absence of Nick Swisher, who was just 1-for-18 against him.

The issue that Matusz has is that their hitters are able to square up and make hard contact. He’s yielded 10 line drives in his last three starts the Yankees and allowed three home runs and two doubles on 18 fly balls.

Phil Hughes Matchups to Watch
Hughes has allowed six runs in each of his two home starts this season, though four of the ones against the Twins were unearned.

Maybe he’ll be the one who shuts down Adam Jones, who hit .333 with six home runs for the Orioles in April.

Jones is 4-for-22 against Hughes and hitless in his last 14 at-bats against him.

Nick Markakis has a history of giving Hughes trouble. He is 10-for-29 aganst Hughes in his career, including a homer, double, single in consecutive at-bats over two games last season.

Cano Still Stuck on One Home Run
Robinson Cano finished April with one home run, his fewest in April since hitting only one in 2007. This is unusual for Cano. He hit eight home runs in April in each of the last two seasons.

Lefties have given Cano some trouble this season, tying him up with fastballs in and making him reach for breaking balls away. He’s made a dozen of his 26 outs against lefties on those types of pitches.

Jeter Watch
Look out folks, Jeter is slumping against left-handed pitching. We say that with humor intended: He’s 17-for-30 against lefties this season, but hitless in his last three at-bats.

The thing about being 17-for-30 against lefties is that you could go hitless in your next 26 at-bats against them, and still be hitting over .300.

Jeter has hit .300 or better against left-handed pitching in each of the last 12 seasons.

One other Jeter note as we enter the new month: His .296 career batting average in May is his lowest for any full calendar month

Phil Hughes Matchups to Watch
Hughes has had a blip of some kind in each of his three starts this season, yielding four home runs. He continues to elevate his pitches at a rate higher than he was doing in the first half of the 2010 season, when he had significant enough success to make the All-Star team.

In 2010, Hughes threw fastballs in the lower third of the strike zone or below about one in every five pitches. This season’ he’s only thrown them in that area about six percent of the time.

The location issue is similar with his offspeed pitches, which have been middle to upper-third more than half the time. Those are the pitches Rangers hitters feast on.

They’ve hit .325 with a .587 slugging percentage in at-bats against a right-handed pitcher that ended with an offspeed pitch in the middle-third of the strike zone or higher. That’s well above the major league average of .257/.427.

Hughes has pitched 15 1/3 innings, allowing three hits against the Rangers in three regular-season appearances (including the 6 1/3 innings of no-hit ball against them early in his career in 2007). He did lose to them twice in the 2010 ALCS, allowing 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings.

Scott Feldman Matchups to Watch
It’s a really small sample, but it’s worth noting that Curtis Granderson is 5-for-8 with three home runs in his career against Scott Feldman, and one of the three outs was a 388-foot fly ball to straightaway center.

Granderson likes Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. He has seven home runs in 86 career at-bats there, though he hit none in the first two games of this series.

Feldman does have a good history against other left-handed hitters. He’s held lefty batters to a .148 batting average since the start of the 2011 season.

Feldman will be making his first start of the season. He’s made four previous starts against the Yankees. Three of them were pretty good (a combined five runs allowed in 19 innings). The other, which was the most recent, was not (four runs in 2 1/3 innings in 2010).

Jeter Watch
Yu Darvish may have been awesome, but Derek Jeter still managed two hits against him, giving him three multi-hit games in a row. He’s 9-for-13 in those three games.

It’s the second time that Jeter has had three straight multi-hit games this season. Last season, Jeter didn’t have his second such streak until August.

Jeter’s career best multi-hit streak is seven games, done twice (1999 and 2009).

Approach to Josh Hamilton
The Yankees were very careful with the Rangers best hitter in Tuesday’s game. Of the 14 pitches he saw, 10 were in the lower-third of the strike zone or below. All four of his plate appearances ended with a pitch to that area.

Hamilton has had some vulnerability to soft stuff down the last few days, with five strikeouts against those pitches in his last four games. The risk is that if you hang the pitch, Hamilton will crush it, as he did with the home run against CC Sabathia in the series opener.

The thank-you cards from Phil Hughes to the Yankees' hitters should be in the mail shortly.

After picking up his first win of the season Thursday against Minnesota, Hughes credited the offense for having his back in the 7-6 victory. Hughes gave up six runs, only two which were earned, over 5 1/3 innings to improve to 1-2 on the year.

"We got the win, that's really all that matters," Hughes said. "First inning was a rough one. I had to find a way to put that behind me and continue on. Thankfully our offense came up big tonight. Just happy to be on the winning end of that."

Hughes entered the game having tossed 183 pitches over a combined eight innings of work in his first two two starts. In those eight innings, opponents totaled 13 hits, hit three home runs, and walked four times as Hughes went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA. His manager, Joe Girardi, called this a "personality start" for the right-handed pitcher.

The first inning started in a horrific manner as Hughes could not work around an error by Eduardo Nunez. With two outs, he yielded a walk, two-run single and two-run double that gave the Twins a 4-0 lead. Hughes also tossed 32 pitches in the inning, a problem for him as he came into the came averaging 22.9 pitches per inning.

Thankfully for Hughes, the offense went right to work and scored three.

"Just to be back in the game that quick is huge," Hughes said. "I can wipe that first inning from my memory and to move forward and know it's a fresh game, that's a big lift."

From the second on, Hughes looked to be a different inning as he cruised in the middle innings. He retired 10 of 11 Twins at one point from the second to fifth inning, with the line hiccup coming on an one-out double that he worked around. He had two perfect innings during that stretch. Hughes said he tried to get downhill on his pitches after leaving some pitches up in the zone in the first, changing the eye level on hitters.

The Yankees gave Hughes a two-run lead to work with after the second inning and boosted the lead up to three before Hughes served up a two-run shot to Ryan Doumit that sliced the lead to 7-6 in the fifth. After striking out Danny Valencia, Hughes departed, having given up six hits and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings.

"I thought he was better," Girardi said. "The first inning, the error opened up the inning for the four unearned runs and he settle down nice from innings two through five. In the sixth, he got ahead of (Justin) Morneau and wasn't able to put him away, and then gave up a home run on a changeup. Overall, I though it was better today."

While the outing was far from perfect, it was the best one yet for Hughes, as evident by those four shutout innings. As he looks to get on track, he can draw from certain aspects of the start.

"I felt like my stuff was good," Hughes said. "Fastball was pretty good tonight and my curveball was probably the best it's been in a while. There's some encouraging things, obviously it's far from a good outing, but still some positives I can look at."

Odd start for Phil Hughes.

He gave up six runs, but looked fantastic at times. He's in line to get the win as he left with the Yankees up 7-6, but this isn't a game you'll say the Yankees might win because of Hughes.

He gave up four runs in the first after Eduardo Nunez's error, and then retired 10 of 11 Twins over the middle innings, but yielded a two-run shot in the sixth that made it 7-6. Only two of the runs were earned.

Hughes' final line: 5 1/3 innings, six hits, six runs, two earned runs, two walks, four strikeouts.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Yankees opened their home schedule last weekend with a 5-0 blanking of the Angels on Friday afternoon. It was the largest shutout in a home opener for the Yankees since an 8-0 win over the Twins in 1988.

Hiroki Kuroda shined in his Yankee Stadium debut, tossing eight scoreless innings to earn his first win in pinstripes.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kuroda became the first Yankee pitcher to throw at least eight shutout innings in his home debut since Jimmy Key in 1993, and the first with eight scoreless innings in a Yankees home opener since Rick Rhoden in 1988.

PHELPS EARNS HIS PINSTRIPES
The Yankees four-game win streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 7-1 loss to the Angels. Phil Hughes was once again inefficient in his second start of the season, needing 84 pitches to get 10 outs while allowing six runs. Hughes is averaging 23 pitches per inning, the highest rate in MLB.

David Phelps was the lone star for the Yankees in the loss, giving up just one run on one hit in 5⅓ innings of relief. That last Yankee to pitch that many innings in relief and allow just one hit was Steve Shields in 1988 against the Red Sox.

Vernon Wells' home run in the fifth inning was the only hit off Phelps. Prior to that hit, Phelps had retired the first 13 batters he faced in his career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the longest such streak for any Yankee to start his career in the Expansion Era (since 1961).

NOBODY BEATS NOVA
The bats woke up on Sunday night as the Yankees routed the Angels 11-5. Ivan Nova got the win despite a mediocre line of four runs allowed in six innings. Nova was tough when it counted; he retired all six batters he faced with runners in scoring position.

Nova has now won his last 14 decisions dating to June 2011. Only Roger Clemens, who won 16 straight in 2001, has a longer streak in Yankees history.

During this stretch, Nova has a 3.35 ERA and the Yankees have averaged more than eight runs of support while he's on the mound.

TWINS TAKE THE BRONX
The Twins came to town on Monday night and pulled off a rare feat – beating the Yankees. Entering the game, the Yankees had won 51 of 69 regular season games vs the Twins since Ron Gardenhire's first season as Twins manager in 2002, which is by far the Yankees best record versus any AL team in that span.

The Yankees scored two runs in their first two at-bats of the game – thanks to back-to-back home runs by Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson – but scored just one more run in their final 33 at-bats. It was the sixth time in franchise history the Yankees started a game with consecutive dingers and the first time since September 23, 2005 versus Toronto.

SABATHIA SETTLES DOWN
The Yankees won the second game of the Twins series, 8-3, backed by a quality start from CC Sabathia. Sabathia allowed three runs and four hits in the first three innings, and then didn’t allow another hit or run the rest of the game. He held righties to just three hits in 20 at-bats (.150) in the game, after they had tagged him for a .366 average (15-41) in his first two starts.

Chris Stewart was the unlikely hero with a two-run single in the third inning and another run-scoring single in the seventh inning, giving him a career-high three RBI in the game. That is as many RBI as Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez combined for in the first 11 games of the season.

TWINS TAKE THE BRONX, PART II
From 2002 to 2011, the Twins won five of the 33 regular season games they played at Yankee Stadium. Following the Yankees 6-5 loss on Wednesday, Minnesota has now taken two of its first three games in the Bronx in 2012.

Kuroda struggled for the second time this season, allowing six earned runs and 10 hits and couldn't get out of the fifth inning. This is the first time in his career he has allowed at least six earned runs and double-digit hits in a game.

The Yankees finally got an RBI from their cleanup spot when Cano drove in Jeter in the first inning with a double. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that the Yankees' 11-game streak to start a season without an RBI from the No. 4 hitter was the longest such streak in franchise history.

RIDICULOUS YANKEEMETRIC OF THE WEEK
In Tuesday's win over the Twins, Brett Gardner became the 10th Yankee in the Live Ball Era to have two doubles and score three runs from the number eight spot in the lineup. But none of the previous nine guys also walked twice like Gardner did – giving Gardner a special entry in the Yankee record books.

Colleague Andrew Marchand wondered in Thursday morning’s first pitch if Phil Hughes’ time with the Yankees could be coming to an end if he doesn’t step it up.

Well, if he continues on his current pace, it just might be.

ESPN Stats & Information’s Katie Sharp took the time to send over some stats on Hughes -- they aren’t good.

Hughes met with the media Wednesday and was asked what he wants to improve on.

“I think pitch count is one thing that stands out. I just have to be more aggressive, kind of go back to what I really want to do as a pitcher, and that’s attack early and finish guys off,” Hughes said. “Just do all the little things that make a successful outing, pounding the strike zone, getting early outs and go from there.”

Good idea. Hughes currently leads the majors in pitches per inning pitch (22.9).

Here’s more on the 25-year-old righty (all ranks below min. 40 plate appearances unless noted):

• Hughes has the highest OPS allowed (1.144) and slugging percentage allowed (.730) in baseball. His BABIP (Batting Averaging on Balls In Play) is .435, seventh-highest.

• Hughes’ leads the majors in flyball percentage (61.5). His groundball percentage is third-lowest (23.1). His line drive percentage, though, is 15.4 percent, below the league average (18).

• Hughes has allowed an OPS of 1.378 after getting in 0-2 counts, worst in the league (min. 10 plate appearances). Opposing hitters are 5-for-12 (.417) off him with three doubles and a home run after an 0-2 count.

In his last outing, Hughes gave up a booming RBI double after getting ahead of Albert Pujols 0-2. And he was up 1-2 in the count before serving up a flat cutter that Howie Kendrick mashed into the left-field seats for the fourth-inning three-run homer that knocked him out of the game.

• Control has been a problem, too. Hughes has throw just 42.1 percent of his pitches in the strike zone, 12th-lowest in baseball, sixth-lowest in the AL.

Phil Hughes' Yankees career is on the clock. At least, his status as a starting pitcher. Maybe even as a member of the team.

After looking tremendous in the spring, Hughes has lost his first two starts, with a 9.00 ERA. In his last start, against the Angels, Hughes went just 3 1/3 innings and gave up six runs (all earned). He caught too much of the plate with his fastball and never could find his secondary stuff (curveball and change).

In the eyes of one scout, Hughes has already shown what he is at 25 years of age.

"For me, I don't think he has the makeup to start," the scout said. "He is a two-inning reliever who can rear back and throw his fastball."

The Yankees are not ready to give up on Hughes. When Andy Pettitte returns, it would seem that Hughes and Freddy Garcia are the starters most likely to be yanked. The Yankees have looked at Hughes as a starter and were ecstatic over his strong spring, so if it is close, he might have the edge over Garcia.

However, Hughes' spring has not carried over to the regular season yet.

"He's gotten into some longer counts and has not been able to put hitters away," Joe Girardi said. "He has gotten plenty of strikeouts up, but he has also made some mistakes up. There is a fine line when you pitch up there. If you don't get it high enough, a lot of times it is going to be hit hard. When he chooses to go up in the zone for strikeouts, he has to make sure he gets it there."

Hughes is throwing nearly 23 pitches per inning. At that rate, to complete a game, Hughes would need 207 pitches.

"I think pitch count is one thing that stands out," Hughes said. "I just have to be more aggressive, kind of go back to what I really want to do as a pitcher, and that’s attack early and finish guys off. Just do all the little things that make a successful outing, pounding the strike zone, getting early outs and go from there."

If he doesn't, he knows he will be out of a job.

"That’s part of being a Yankee," Hughes said. "f you don't get the job done, they'll get somebody else that does."

UP NOW: I wrote about some disconcerting numbers from Hiroki Kuroda's worst start of his career. Also, Brett Gardner is headed to the DL. Mike Mazzeo has a bunch of notes on Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Andruw Jones and Nick Swisher.

ON DECK: Hughes (0-2, 9.00 ERA) versus Anthony Swarzak (0-2, 3.75 ERA) finish this four-game series Thursday night. On Friday in Boston, the Yankees celebrate Fenway Park's 100th anniversary with a 3:05 p.m. game against the Red Sox, featuring Ivan Nova (2-0, 4.15) versus Clay Bucholz (1-0, 9.82). On Saturday, it will be Freddy Garcia (0-1, 6.97) versus Felix Doubrant (0-0, 5.40). On Sunday, CC Sabathia (1-0, 5.59) versus Daniel Bard (0-2, 4.63).

IN THE HOLE: Mazzeo will bring some interesting Hughes stats to the blog at 10:30 a.m.. Around noon, Mark Simon has his W2W4. Katie Sharp has the always-fun YankeeMetrics at 1:30 p.m. Matt Ehalt and I will be covering the game Thursday night. We will be on the blog all day. Thanks for reading.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Do you believe in Hughes?

Phil Hughes has been a starter and a reliever. He has been injured and misused. He has been on an innings limit. His velocity has been questioned.

Now, his pitch count has been put under a microscope. And the "Killer P's" -- Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda -- are lurking, waiting to take his spot in the Yankees' rotation.

"I'm used to it, unfortunately. That's how it's been," Hughes said after getting shelled by the Angels in a 7-1 loss Saturday afternoon and falling to 0-2 on the season. "I just have to work hard and get things right. I felt like my stuff was good; I just need to keep working."

On Saturday afternoon, Hughes' stuff was good. His fastball velocity was 92-94 mph. His curveball had nice bite. He even got a strikeout with his changeup despite not being able to find it for much of the outing. But for the second straight start to kick off the 2012 campaign, Hughes failed to be efficient and put hitters away.

In the third inning, Albert Pujols whacked an 0-2 high fastball from Hughes into center for an RBI double. An inning later, Howie Kendrick smoked a 1-2 cutter that stayed out over the plate into the left-field stands for a three-run home run, ending Hughes' afternoon.

In all, Hughes -- who was charged with six earned runs on eight hits and gave up a pair of homers -- needed 84 pitches to get 10 outs. On the season, he has needed 199 pitches to get 24 outs, allowing eight runs.

To put Hughes' troubles into context, Roy Halladay has thrown 201 pitches and gotten 45 outs, allowing one run. Matt Cain has thrown 203 pitches and gotten 45 outs. Justin Verlander has thrown 209 pitches and gotten 49 outs.

And according to ESPN Stats & Information, opposing hitters are batting .417 (5-for-12) against Hughes when he gets ahead in the count 0-2. That's a .462 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage. Entering Saturday, American League pitchers were allowing a .169 batting average, .198 on-base percentage and .242 slugging percentage after getting ahead 0-2.

"When he gets ahead, he's missing spots or they're fouling balls off," manager Joe Girardi said. "Consistency and the quality of pitches that he's throwing is what will bring his pitch count down."

Girardi didn't seem as concerned as everyone else. And he wasn't about to speculate on what the future holds for Hughes.

"It's still early in the season," Girardi said. "His arm strength is there. He's just gotta make consistent pitches."

Trouble is, he hasn't. And it isn't just this season, either. Since getting off to a 10-1 start in 2010, Hughes is 13-14 with a 5.55 ERA and has allowed 109 earned runs in 176 2/3 innings (credit to YES Network for bringing up this stat).

"I don't think you win 18 games by accident," Girardi said, referring to Hughes' 18-8 record in 2010. "But obviously the questions are gonna be asked because of what he went through last season [with injuries]. To me, it's just making better pitches, and we need him to do that."

"It's tough," Hughes said. "I felt I had good stuff throughout [spring training]."

But that hasn't carried over.

Pettitte is going to throw 45-50 pitches for Class A Tampa on Sunday. Girardi had no update on Pineda.

There are no guarantees either will be as effective as they once were, but Pettitte didn't sign with the Yankees to come out of the bullpen, and GM Brian Cashman didn't give up highly touted prospect Jesus Montero to see Pineda pitch in Triple-A.

Maybe it is only two starts, but Hughes has to rediscover his 2010 first-half form.

Otherwise, he could find himself out of the rotation -- sooner or later.

"The only thing a pitcher can do is worry about his next start, learn from his last start and go from there," Girardi said.

What do you think? Can Hughes turn it around? Or should he be bumped from the rotation? Maybe it's too early to tell. Be heard.