Phil Hughes knocked around during Yankees second straight loss to Detroit Tiger

Joe Girardi didn’t express much concern after the Yankees lost for the 12th time in 18 games. his players, on the other hand, might be starting to feel the heat.

The Yankees dropped a six-five decision to the Tigers Tuesday night at Comerica Park, starting a 4-game series by losing their second straight. Withthe Orioles beating Seattle in 14 innings last night, the Yankees’ AL East lead was trimmed to 4-1/2 games, their slimest margin since June 29.

“There should be a high level of concern; anybody who says that there isn’t is lying,” Eric Chavez said. “You’ve just got to win ballgames; we’re not finding a way to do that and it should be a concern. It’s that time of the year when, yeah, it’s a concern. We need to start playing good and winning games.”

Phil Hughes allowed four runs over 41/3 innings,while Cody Eppley and Joba Chamberlain gave up a run apiece, putting the Yankees in a three-run hole.

A ninth-inning rally against closer Jose Valverde brought the Bombers within a run, but Curtis Granderson couldn’t complete the comeback, popping out to first to end the game.

“We’re not playing very good,” Russell Martin said. “We’re going to have to pick it up.”

The Yankees are 3-7 in their last 10 games and 6-18 since July 19, going 0-8 in one-run games during that stretch.

“It’s been a struggle for us; there’s no doubt about it,” Girardi said. “But the first month, we struggled and we came out of it. We’ll come out of it. I mean, we will. Every club goes through it.”
Hughes managed to get ahead of most hitters, something Ivan Nova failed to do Monday. Unfortunately for the Yankees, he was unable to finish off many of them, his pitch count soaring with a 42-delivery fourth.

“The first three innings, I felt like I was cruising pretty good,” said Hughes, who gave up eight hits and didn’t issue a walk. “I felt like I was good enough to get a quality outing out of this one. So it’s a little more frustrating.”

Chavez staked the Yankees to a lead in the fourth with a two-run homer. But Miguel Cabrera cut the lead in half with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning, then Brennan Boesch singled with one out against Hughes in a 12-pitch at-bat. Jhonny Peralta doubled in Boesch to tie the game.

“It’s kind of like what we do to pitchers normally,” Martin said. “It’s like we got a taste of our own medicine today.”

Hughes went out for the fifth with his pitch count at 85, but it didn’t take long for him to reach the century mark. Andy Dirks singled in a six-pitch at-bat, then Austin Jackson singled on the fifth pitch he saw, both hitters overcoming two-strike counts.

Hughes retired Omar Infante on a lineout, but Cabrera stroked a 1-0 hanging curveball to left field, scoring both runners with a go-ahead double on Hughes’ 102nd and final pitch of the night.

Dirks delivered an RBI single in the eighth to put the lead at three, which proved to be important as the Yankees rallied against Valverde in the ninth.

Ichiro drove in a run with a single, then Martin doubled with runners at first and second, cutting the deficit to one and moving the tying and go-ahead runners into scoring position.

Granderson, who was 2-for-19 since moving into the leadoff spot last Friday, had a chance to be the hero, but he popped out to Prince Fielder to squash the comeback.

“Just keep fighting; there’s nothing to do, really,” Chavez said. “When bad’s here, good’s around the corner. That’s what keeps me going."