Yankees 4 Louisville 0

The 21-year-old right-hander allowed two hits and a walk in his fourth rehab start since pulling a hamstring on May 1 while pitching for New York.

The highlight of Hughes' performance came in the fifth inning when Louisville loaded the bases without any outs. After getting Anderson Machado to hit a shallow fly ball to right field, Hughes (3-1) struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

"It took me a while to get in a groove, but it was good to work out of the stretch like that a little bit and make some pitches," Hughes said. "I was fortunate to not let any runs score."

In his last start July 18 for Double-A Trenton, Hughes whiffed five and allowed one run on two hits and a pair of walks in four frames. Hughes, the 23rd overall selection in the 2004 draft, said being able to pitch deeper into the game gave him a chance to get a better feel for his progress.

"The biggest thing was that I really had the time to see where I need to make some adjustments," he said. "It's tough any time you have to sit out so long, but it's good to finally be back and throwing. Right now I'm just looking forward to getting my next start."

Steven White was also impressive, tossing three perfect innings and striking out one to notch his first save in his first relief appearance of the year.

Erubiel Durazo collected two hits and doubled in a run while Angel Chavez, Raul Chavez and Eric Duncan each added an RBI single for the Yankees (57-43), who have won 11 of their last 13 games.

Jay Bruce and Chris Dickerson picked up the only hits for Louisville (50-52), which has lost 10 of its last 12.

Bats starter Tom Shearn (4-9) took the loss, surrendering three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits while fanning four in five innings.