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New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins, Tanaka vs Hughes

The new ace faces the ace who never was.

Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Phil Hughes was always a tinkerer. One of the things I loved about him as a prospect was how cerebral he always seemed. At times, I thought he was overthinking on the mound. Most of all, I think his repeated injuries stole some life from his fastball, and made him not trust his delivery or his stuff.

There is a part of me that will always cheer for him. I want him to lose tonight, but a 1-0 tough luck loss would make me feel better about it.

Masahiro Tanaka has been better than I dared dream. He has been the 25 year old ace I'd hoped Phil Hughes would become. #TanakaTime to start a long holiday weekend is quite the treat.

And tonight, the past and the present collide.

Go Yankees. Go baseball.

Today's Lineups

NEW YORK YANKEES MINNESOTA TWINS
Brett Gardner - LF Brian Dozier - 2B
Derek Jeter - SS Kurt Suzuki - C
Jacoby Ellsbury - CF Chris Parmelee - 1B
Mark Teixeira - 1B Kendrys Morales - DH
Brian McCann - C Josh Willingham - LF
Carlos Beltran - DH Oswaldo Arcia - RF
Ichiro Suzuki - RF Trevor Plouffe - 3B
Zelous Wheeler - 3B Eduardo Escobar - SS
Brendan Ryan - 2B Sam Fuld - CF
Masahiro Tanaka - RHP Phil Hughes - RHP