six-run ninth. "It was a little bit strange," said Hughes,

NEW YORK -- There wasnt much reaction at Yankee Stadium when Phil Hughes name was announced during pregame introductions Sunday. A small smattering of boos, maybe. Mostly, collective apathy from a crowd still filing in. Then the right-hander went out and showed New York fans hes no longer the floundering pitcher they last saw. Looking all grown up on the mound with a well-manicured beard, Hughes threw eight poised innings in his return to the Bronx and wound up a winner when the Minnesota Twins rallied past the Yankees 7-2 behind big hits from Josh Willingham and Brian Dozier in a six-run ninth. "It was a little bit strange," said Hughes, who tipped his cap to New York pitching coach Larry Rothschild while walking onto the field. "But once I got on the mound, it just kind of cleared away and I was just able to focus on how I was going to pitch. After the first inning, I was just hoping I wouldnt start walking toward their dugout." Willingham belted a tying homer on the first pitch from closer David Robertson, denying rookie Chase Whitley his first major league victory. Robertson (0-2) then walked two batters and gave up Doziers two-out double, putting the Twins on top 3-2. Eduardo Nunez, also let go by the Yankees, lined a two-run double on Matt Daleys first pitch. Oswaldo Arcia added a two-run single off Matt Thornton to make it 7-2, all but sealing Minnesotas second victory in the three-game series. Hughes (6-1) held his former team to three hits -- all in a row to begin the fourth -- and retired his final 15 batters during his sixth straight win. "I dont think it means more than any other start," he said. "A little bit more nerves than usual, but thankfully I was throwing strikes early and was able to make some pitches," Hughes explained. "Obviously, it was a half-inning away from being a different story, but the guys rallied there in the ninth and it was a solid win for us." Hughes never quite lived up to lofty expectations in New York, though he did make his mark during seven seasons in pinstripes. He was a key member of the bullpen in 2009, helping the Yankees to a World Series championship, and made the All-Star team while winning 18 games the following year. But he faded to 4-14 with a 5.19 ERA last season, struggling with the homer-friendly dimensions at Yankee Stadium. With the second-highest flyball ratio among major league starters, he went 1-10 with a 6.32 ERA at home. "He didnt need too much real estate here today," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Minnesota, which plays at pitcher-friendly Target Field, signed Hughes to a $24 million, three-year contract in December, and hes off to a terrific start with his new team. He was 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA in his previous seven starts, and acknowledged Friday there would be "some weird at-bats" when he faced his former teammates. "We all know how big this is for him," Gardenhire said before the game. Hughes came right after the Yankees with 91-94 mph fastballs and cutters. He faced the minimum through three innings and only had trouble in the fourth. Brett Gardner tripled off the auxiliary scoreboard in right-centre and Derek Jeter singled. After a single by Jacoby Ellsbury and a rare walk to Brian McCann, Hughes did not permit another baserunner. "He never stopped attacking," Gardenhire said. Ichiro Suzukis bases-loaded sacrifice fly gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It stayed that way until the ninth, when Robertson was charged with five runs in two-thirds of an inning. He was booed off the mound after his second blown save in 14 chances since taking over as closer for Mariano Rivera. "I just made some big mistakes and it cost us the game," Robertson said. "I stunk today, what can I say? ... Im itching to get out there to prove I can still do this." Hughes struck out six and walked two, throwing 72 of 100 pitches for strikes against a lineup missing injured sluggers Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran. "These are the guys we have and theyve got to find a way to get it done," manager Joe Girardi said. Trevor Plouffe had a two-out RBI single for the Twins in the third. Hughes went 178 straight batters without issuing a walk before McCann drew a free pass on a full count leading off the second. "He was more mad about that than anything else," Gardenhire said. Dozier turned an artful double play to end the inning. The second baseman grabbed a bouncer toward the middle and went into a neat pop-up slide, touching the bag with his glove before throwing to first just in time to get Suzuki. NOTES: Beltran (elbow) is headed to Tampa, Florida, to begin taking at-bats in extended spring training Monday. ... New York RHP David Phelps (1-2, 3.38 ERA) faces Seattle ace Felix Hernandez (7-1, 2.57) on Monday night in the makeup of an April 30 rainout. ... Minnesota RHP Kyle Gibson (4-4) starts Monday night in Milwaukee against ex-Twin Matt Garza (2-4). Cheap Washington Redskins Gear . -- The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on "One Shining Moment," and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout. Stitched Washington Redskins Jerseys .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames. http://www.cheapredskins.com/. Acclaimed by world football leaders but held in contempt by many football fans. Blatter should arrive at the Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo to watch host Brazil play Croatia confident that this tournament -- his fifth as president -- wont be his last leading the worlds favourite sport. Discount Washington Redskins Jerseys . But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club. Authentic Washington Redskins Jerseys . This is the final meeting of the season between these teams.? The Capitals were 5-4 winners in a shootout Oct.Andy Hinchcliffe and Neil McCann give their starting XI player ratings as England beat Scotland 3-0 at Wembley. Goals from Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill sealed the three points for Gareth Southgates men, who remain top of Group F with ten points. The Scots will feel the scoreline didnt reflect their performance with a number of chances to get on the scoresheet themselves, but they now drop down to fifth in the group, above Malta who are yet to register a point. Pundits Hinchcliffe, who rated England, and McCann, who provided Scotlands scores, watched the game on Sky Sports News HQ and were on hand after the game to give their ratings.EnglandJoe Hart - 7It was probably one of his easiest nights as an England goalkeeper. He had some crosses to deal with but he didnt have any shots to save. The defenders in front of him did a pretty good job as well and he kept a clean sheet. Kyle Walker - 8He was the difference for that opening goal. England like to play with attacking full backs with Walker and Danny Rose instrumental. The first two goals came form the runs that they made and the crosses they put into the box. Danny Rose - 8For similar reasons to Walker, he got forward and provided width when the wide players come in field so again, you have to give him an eight for his attacking performance. Full-backs now are such an important part of a team because they dont really play with wide players anymore, they tend to drift infield like we saw with Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana tonight.When they do that, its important for the full-backs to not just have the energy to get over the halfway line but have the quality to deliver balls into the box and thats exactly what Walker and Rose give you. Danny Rose earned an eight from Hinchcliffe for his Wembley performance Eric Dier - 7Again, it was a relatively quiet night for him. In the first 15 minutes or so, himself and Jordan Henderson found it difficult under the high press from Scotland so the midfield three were outnumbering and making life a bit difficult, so you didnt really see too much of them in the opening exchanges. As the game went on, they got a measure of control which is what I think they are in the team to provide. They are there to do a solid job and enable the attacking players to get into the game. Gary Cahill - 7 Gary Cahill headed home the third for the Three Lions at Wembley It was a wonderful header. Defensively, Scotland should have done an awful lot more but a very difficult header so in terms of an individual piece of skill, it was a cracking header so he will be pleased with the goal he scored. He was given a bit of a tough time at the start, Leigh Griffiths was closing defenders down and making it hard for Cahill and John Stones to play out from the back which is what they want to do, but he probably didnt have too much to do.John Stones - 6.5He was still trying to play his football during the game which he is capable of doing when playing out from the back but it was unusual the way Scotland approached it.They put him under a lot of pressure and a couple of times, he was over-playing so I was a little bit concerned in the opening 20 minutes for his performance, but the longer the game went on and Scotland sat off, we saw what type of player he is. Raheem Sterling - 9 Raheem Sterling was outstanding, says Hinchcliffe Sterling was outstanding. We know what a talented player he is with the ball, but his intelligence tonight was noticeable for the first goal. He came infield, it was his shot that got deflected for Walker to move into that space. Sterling and Adam Lallana have that intelligence to pop up in a variety of positions, and Sterling switched flanks tonight as well from right to left so again, he has that versatility which gives defences an awful lot of problems. His ability to run with the ball at pace is something England dont have in abundance so he is a key player going forward. Jordan Henderson - 7 Jordan Henderson played a solid game at Wembley, according to our pundit Again, hes there for that solid role, and its not necessarily nice to look at but its not meant to be. In terms of the formation of the team, his solid and disciplined performance allowed the attacking full-backs to go forward and Wayne Rooney to be released because they know they have the defensive insurance. Daniel Sturridge - 8When he was selected for the game, people were a little bit surprised, they thought Harry Kane might play and I was aa bit worried because hes the kind of player that likes to come towards the ball because when Scotland defend in numbers, Sturridge might find himself in midfield rather than playing as a striker.dddddddddddd But his awareness and ability to score goals is beyond question. The opening goal, which was the decisive factor in the game, only Sturridge could score a goal of that quality because the cross was really fizzed at him. Daniel Sturridge netted the opener for England on Friday evening Thats why Southgate probably looked at him, and he hasnt been playing regularly for Liverpool, but he has that ability in the blink of an eye to turn a cross into a goal.Wayne Rooney - 8This is more the type of position we want to see Rooney in. In the past, weve seen him playing deeper and deeper and he can play that role with his eyes shut but we want him to have an effect on the game and play like a typical No 10. Having the likes of Dier, Henderson, Lallana and Sterling in the team means Rooney can play further forward and I think he did a really good job tonight. Adam Lallana - 9.5 Adam Lallana scored the second of Englands three goals He was outstanding and just ahead of Sterling for his performance. His header was brilliantly controlled. He is now arguably Englands most important player along with Sterling from what weve seen over the last few games.Hes got pretty much everything - a creator, a hard worker and a goalscorer. ScotlandCraig Gordon - 6Its really difficult to criticise anything about him tonight. There was not really anything he could have done about any of the three goals.Lee Wallace - 6 Lee Wallace played well despite being at fault for the second goal, says Neil McCann I felt Lee Wallace was culpable for the second goal, but played quite well apart from that so Ill give him a six.Ikechi Anya - 5Anya had a difficult evening, I felt. Yes, maybe he was playing slightly out of position tonight, but he offered nothing going forwardChristophe Berra - 5I didnt even hear the commentators mention he was playing at any point tonight. He was involved in a couple of skirmishes with Sterling, but other than that he had a pretty quiet game. You cant criticise too much, but his job is to keep clean sheets and he didnt do that.Darren Fletcher - 5 Darren Fletcher was the captain for Scotland on Friday evening His work rate was good, but he probably didnt influence the game as much as I would have wanted him to.Grant Hanley - 5Hanley threw his body on the line a number of times tonight. He couldnt really do anything about the first or second goals, but he played a part in the third goal in my opinion. He didnt attack the ball and was a bit flat-footed.James Forrest - 5He worked really hard and he had a massive chance when the score was 1-0. He really should have tested the goalkeeper, so I cant mark him too highly.Scott Brown - 6 Scott Brown returned to the Scotland set-up for the meeting at Wembley He is another player who worked hard and I would think covered an impressive amount of ground. He didnt quite take the game by the scruff of the neck, as he has in a couple of Champions League games this season.Robert Snodgrass - 5It was a poor night for him and I was disappointed. We lean on him, especially in the final third because we knew we would have to defend a lot against England. His set-piece deliveries were fine, but I thought he had another quiet game. Robert Snodgrass went close for Scotland but could not find the breakthrough James Morrison - 6I thought James was OK, considering it was the first time in a while he had been handed a start for Scotland. He tried to put his foot on the ball and make things happen.Leigh Griffiths - 5He worked hard and had one effort which went over the bar and another crucial chance when he made the wrong decision. He had a shot instead of rolling Snodgrass in and that proved to be the wrong call. Also See: Clinical England down Scots As it happened England, Scotland defy FIFA Sky Live: Saturday Qualifiers Stitched College Jerseys Cheap UCLA Jerseys NCAA Louisville Cardinals Jerseys North Carolina Jerseys Stitched Kentucky Wildcats Jerseys Stitched Alabama Crimson Tide Jerseys Cheap Basketball Wisconsin Badgers Jerseys Authentic NCAA Jerseys Store Wholesale Basketball NCAA Jerseys Cheap Duke Gear Stitched Alabama Jerseys Stitched Georgia Jerseys Cheap Clemson Jerseys Authentic Authentic Texas Jerseys Wholesale USC Jerseys Stitched Oklahoma Jerseys Stitched Ohio State Jerseys Cheap Notre Dame Gear UCLA Jerseys From China Cheap Louisville Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap North Carolina Jerseys Authentic Cheap Kentucky Jerseys Authentic Wisconsin Jerseys From China Cheap Michigan Gear Cheap Florida Gear Wholesale Arizona State Jerseys Cheap LSU Gear Cheap Auburn Gear Cheap California Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Miami Jerseys Authentic Cheap Michigan State Gear Cheap Tennessee Jerseys Authentic Texas A&M Jerseys From China Authentic Wake Forest Jerseys West Virginia Jerseys From China ' ' '