Hughes dominates; ticket prices going up again

The Scranton Yankees were featured on FanGraphs as 'The Hottest Team in Minor League Baseball.' They suffered their first loss yesterday, but bounced back with a 6-1 win tonight, bringing their record to 12-1.

Speaking of the game tonight, Phil Hughes started and dominated. He pitched 7.2 innings, allowing just one run on six hits and one walk along with seven K's. His strike ratio was a ridiculous 71%. His ERA (in an admittedly small sample of 19.1 innings) is a miniscule 1.86.

Mark Melancon nailed down the game, striking out two in 1.1 innings.

- Stadium ticket prices are going up again... Yes, you read that right.

- Perhaps I'm beating a dead horse, but Ramiro Pena should be playing third, not Cody Ransom (technically the horse is alive though: Ransom's still in the lineup everyday). The attractive part of Ransom was his supposed ability to hit (better than Pena), but since that's not the case, why is he playing? Girardi knows it too: Brett Gardner (of the .233 career BA) pinch-hit for Ransom. Not to mention how Pena brings better defense - that play he made today: catching a pop foul on top of the tarp down the third base line comes to mind - so why ain't he out there?

- Dan Rosenheck of the Times looked at Jackie Robinson and his tendency to steal home. Was it worth the risk? It's a very interesting read that combines SABR-metrics, history and insights into one of the game's most exciting plays and players.