Is Phil Hughes the Phil of the Future for the Yankees bullpen?

Phil Hughes got his first career save last night. He's been so impressive in the bullpen this year, that it looks like he's going to be the setup guy for the rest of the year, a la 1996 Mariano Rivera. But should he stay in that spot for next year as well? Good question. It's something to think about.

The Yanks are on some streak - seven in a row - thanks in no small part to Hughes and the rest of the bullpen. And they've been so dominant as of late that they're even beating pitchers they haven't seen before, like New Jersey native Vin Mazzaro. Good stuff.

I had tickets to last night's game (it was the rescheduled rained out game from April), but I decided to use them for some other time, as I was worried about rain. Good thing I did - I wouldn't have wanted to wait out a 2 hour and 43 minute rain delay! But hey, I'm a wimp!

On the other hand, some brave kids got the time of their life at the game last night. As part of the Yankees HOPE week, the Bombers gave kids who suffer from Xeroderma Pigmentosum a night they'll never forget. The disease prevents sufferers from going out in sunlight. For last night's game, the Yankees put up Camp Sundown kids in the luxury suites, then threw a carnival for them on the field after the game.

A.J. Burnett talked about this to MLB.com:

"I have two kids, and it's kind of unfathomable to imagine what's going on with these kids," A.J. Burnett said. "I'd never heard of this disease before this week, and as soon as I heard about it, I signed up for it. They're going to take this one memory and I want to be a part of it. That's kind of flattering." ....

Burnett said that, to benefit Camp Sundown and XP research, he planned to put the Yankees' WWE belt -- distributed to the team-selected player of each game -- up for auction later this season.

My heart goes out to those kids, and to all the people honored in HOPE Week. The Yankees have done a tremendous job with these events.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!