Hughes injured in Yankees' victory

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yet another starting pitcher on the last-place New York Yankees got hurt last night. This one was working on a no-hitter in his second major league start.

Phil Hughes carried his gem into the seventh inning before a hamstring injury cost him a chance to make history. The team's prized prospect is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, a sour end to an otherwise encouraging night for New York.

Hank Blalock broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff double in the eighth against reliever Mike Myers, but the Yankees responded to criticism from owner George Steinbrenner in a big way with a 10-1 rout of the Texas Rangers.

New York won for only the second time in 10 games, but Hughes's injury put a damper on the blowout.

"Just one of those freak things that you certainly can't explain," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Hughes (1-1) became the latest New York pitcher to go down, two starts after he was called up from Triple A Scranton to fill a spot in the team's depleted rotation. Mike Mussina (hamstring), Carl Pavano (forearm), and Jeff Karstens (broken right leg) are on the disabled list. Chien-Ming Wang also missed the first three weeks of the season with a hamstring injury.

"It's been frustrating," general manager Brian Cashman said. "We seem to be getting hit every day."

Hughes, considered one of the top prospects in baseball, was cruising along in a dominant performance when he winced and grabbed the back of his left thigh after throwing an 0-2 breaking ball to Mark Teixeira with one out in the seventh. He was removed after 83 pitches with a 9-0 lead.

The 20-year-old righthander said he was trying to finish Teixeira with a hard curveball when he likely overextended over his front foot. Hughes said he felt a pop.

"I was kind of flustered," he said. "It was one of those unfortunate circumstances, and there's not much you can do about it."

Hughes said he wasn't in pain after the game but he wouldn't have been able to keep pitching. After being pulled, he walked gingerly back to the dugout, where he received a warm reception from teammates.

Hughes struck out six and walked three. When he left, he was eight outs from the Yankees' first no-hitter since David Cone's perfect game in 1999.

Ian Kinsler followed Blalock's double with an RBI single. Myers finished the eighth and Luis Vizcaino worked the ninth to complete the two-hitter.

New York went 9-14 in April and finished the month 6 1/2 games behind first-place Boston in the AL East. That roused Steinbrenner to issue his first public remarks of the season Monday, at once throwing his support behind Torre and rebuking the team for its record.