Phil Hughes bounced back from a shaky outing and tossed six dominating innings as visiting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre blanked Syracuse, 4-0, on Wednesday.
Hughes (2-1) surrendered two hits and struck out 10 without a walk after yielding five runs in five innings against Richmond on April 12.
Needing a starter Tuesday to fill in for injured pitchers Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina, the Yankees bypassed Hughes -- their consensus No. 1 pitching prospect -- and awarded the spot start to fellow rookie Chase Wright.
If Hughes was disappointed by the decision, he didn't show it as he didn't allow a baserunner to get in scoring position and retired 15 batters in a row before Russ Adams' sixth-inning single. It was the first time Hughes had fanned 10 batters since a June 23 game against Connecticut.
Andrew Beattie ripped a two-run single in the fourth inning, and Alberto Gonzalez lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Chris Basak scored on a wild pitch in the ninth for the Yankees (7-4).
Mike Vento and Kevin Barker each had two hits for Syracuse (4-7).
Chiefs starter Dustin McGowan (0-2) yielded three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and five strikeouts in five frames.
