Bronx, NY – Chris Capuano stymied the New York Yankees in his return from the disabled list, firing six scoreless innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-0 victory and a split of a day-night doubleheader that marked the first-ever regular-season meetings between the teams at Yankee Stadium.
Capuano (2-4), sidelined since May 29 with a strained left shoulder, helped Los Angeles bounce back from a 6-4 setback in the opener by limiting the Yankees to three singles. The veteran received ample support from his teammates as well, with each of the first five Dodger hitters collecting at least two hits in the club's first triumph in the Bronx since Game 6 of the 1981 World Series.
The win was also a special one for Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly, who spent his entire 14-year playing career with the Yankees and had his No. 23 jersey retired by the team in 1997. The popular former first baseman and bench coach was visiting Yankee Stadium as an opponent for the first time in his career.
Yasiel Puig led Los Angeles' offensive charge by going 2-for-4 with a homer and three runs scored, while Hanley Ramirez added two hits and a pair of RBI and Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with a run-scoring single.
"Our offense (all day) was pretty good," Mattingly said. "It's a good sign and I hope something of a trend."
The Dodgers pounded out 12 total hits in the nightcap, 10 of which were surrendered by Phil Hughes (3-6) as the righty was rocked for five runs in six innings.
"I haven't really thought about moving Phil out of the rotation," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's capable of doing a good job for us, but right now he's struggling."
New York took the opener behind a 3-for-4, three-RBI performance from Ichiro Suzuki that included a home run, but mustered a mere four baserunners in game two to lose for the sixth time in eight games.
Los Angeles was shut out by onetime Dodger Hiroki Kuroda through the first six innings of Wednesday's opener, but had no such trouble getting on the board against an ineffective Hughes.
The Dodgers began the game with four straight singles, including run-scoring hits from Gonzalez and Ramirez -- who went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer in game one. The damage could have been worse, as Hughes was able to get Tim Federowicz to bounce into an inning-ending double play after Los Angeles later loaded the bases.
Gonzalez laced a double to center in his next at-bat while leading off the third, with Andre Ethier connecting on a two-bagger past a diving Brett Gardner in right-center field two batters later to increase the lead to 3-0.
Hughes ran into more trouble in the fifth, hitting Puig with a pitch to start the frame before the rookie stole second and came around on another Ramirez single. After Ethier followed with a base hit, Jerry Hairston Jr. delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Ramirez for a 5-0 advantage.
That was more than enough for Capuano, who set down nine of the first 10 Yankee hitters and had only one potential rough patch. That came when Jayson Nix and Robinson Cano each singled to open the bottom of the fourth, though Cano was gunned down by Ethier trying to stretch his hit into a double to help thwart New York's best scoring opportunity of the night.
Adam Warren relieved Hughes to begin the seventh, with Puig depositing his first pitch into the right-field seats to cap the scoring.
Game Notes
Puig now has collected 27 hits through his first 15 major league games, trailing only St. Louis' Bo Hart (28 in 2003) for the most by a player to begin a career since 1900 ... Ramirez has gone 12-for-27 (.444) against right- handed pitching this season ... Hughes fell to 1-4 with a 6.69 ERA in seven home starts in 2013 ... The Yankees had won 12 of their last 16 games when facing a left-handed starter entering the nightcap.
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