Pelfrey quiets Yankee bats while Hughes tagged with first loss of year

I missed most of last night’s game, as I was out enjoying a fantastic dinner with my family at Ruth’s Chris in Midtown. My wife and I went out for a pre-dinner drink at Ava, the rooftop bar at the Dream Hotel — ordinarily this is the kind of venue that I rip people for going to and that goes completely against my aesthetic, what with its Midtown location and being absurdly trendy and expensive — but for an early-evening drink on a roof in the middle of the city, it was actually the perfect setting. It also helped that we found this secluded area that we basically had all to ourselves.

Dinner was predictably excellent, as we scarfed down barbecued shrimp, tempura-dipped onion rings and crab-stuffed mushrooms to start with, followed by a brilliant (and generously sized) filet, with creamed spinach, potatoes au gratin and shoestring fries on the side. This wonderful meal was washed down with the help of two bottles of delicious delicious Brooklyn Local 2, and finished off with a 12-year Glenlivet Single Malt neat digestif.

Oh right, and the baseball game. We caught the tail end and got to see the Yanks look clueless against Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth en route to a 5-3 loss to the crosstown Metropolitans. From what I’ve read, it sounds like had some trouble putting batters away for the second straight start and also had some difficulty getting that elusive third out. This was also the first time in eight starts this season that Hughes surrendered a run in the first inning.

His line wasn’t terrible — 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 Ks on a night when you don’t have your best stuff is livable — although three walks and eight hits yielded to a team with a .315 wOBA is rough, especially when your offense decides to take the night off.

emerged victorious in the battle of young heralded New York starting pitchers, tossing six innings of one-run ball. The Yankees’ 1-2-3 hitters went 0-13, which isn’t generally a recipe for offensive success.

In any event, not sad I missed this one. The Yanks look to go for the series win tonight behind their ace, as the Mets counter with an ace of their own. Should be a good one.