Pie made its first 2011 appearance in the Bronx Thursday night as the New York Yankees came all the way back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5, in 10 innings. A Nick Swisher sacrifice fly scored Mark Teixeira with the running run, and earned Swisher the obligatory pie from A.J. Burnett.
The Yankees tied the game in the ninth inning when designated hitter Jorge Posada homered on the first pitch of the inning from Baltimore closer Kevin Gregg. Posada has seven hits this season, five of them home runs.
The victory masked the third straight awful outing by Yankee starter Phil Hughes, who now has a 13.94 ERA after surrendering five runs in 4.1 innings. Bartolo Colon pitched three shutout innings, Joba Chamberlain 1.2 innings and Mariano Rivera earned the victory with a scoreless 10th inning.
Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a run batted in for the Yankees, who took both games in this abbreviated series. Originally a three- game set, Tuesday’s opener was rained out.
There will be plenty of questions about Hughes over the next several days as the Yankees have to figure out what to do with the struggling young right-hander. With Colon pitching so well there will naturally be those who suggest the veteran should replace Hughes in the starting rotation.
It will be interesting to see what the Yankees do with Hughes. For now, though, they will just enjoy their pie.