NewsYankees right-hander Phil Hughes turned in another positive start on Monday as he competes for a spot in the club's rotation.
Hughes held a lineup of Phillies Minor Leaguers to two runs over six innings at the Yankees' Himes Avenue complex, working there on the Yankees' scheduled spring off-day.
Hughes scattered six hits, walking none and striking out four while throwing 66 of his 91 pitches for strikes.
"I just wanted to come out and pitch well [this spring]," Hughes told reporters in Tampa, Fla. "I feel like I've done that, for the most part. Nobody is going to be absolutely perfect; everyone is trying to get ready, so nobody is going to be in midseason form. Overall, I felt like I did what I wanted to do, come into camp and just pitch as well as I could. Besides that, I can't really do much else."
Caught by Francisco Cervelli in the outing, Hughes hit a batter and permitted a home run.
Hughes is most likely continuing to battle with Freddy Garcia for the final spot in New York's rotation, which figures to have Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda following ace CC Sabathia in some order.
Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
