INQUIRER Sports

NEW YORK -- Young Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes joined superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Jorge Posada on the disabled list on Wednesday.

The Yankees placed the 21-year-old righthander on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique.

He joined Rodriguez, who is nursing a quadriceps injury, and Posada -- with a sore shoulder -- on the sidelines.

Hughes was rocked for six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings of a 6-4 loss to Detroit on Tuesday.

Hughes, one of the venerable club's brightest young pitchers, is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in six starts this season.

He went 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA in 13 starts last season, his first in the majors.

"I asked him specifically does he remember doing anything at any point, and the answer was no. He has no idea where this came on," New York general manager Brian Cashman said after Wednesday's 6-2 loss to Detroit. "It's hard to put time frames on oblique strains. They can linger, they can disappear after 15 [days]."

Rodriguez went on the DL on Tuesday with a strain of his right quadriceps. He felt tightness in the muscle in a game on Monday night, but stayed in until left for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning.

Rodriguez was originally hurt in Baltimore on April 20 when he reached on a fielder's choice. Rodriguez was pulled in that contest and missed the next three.

"The key for me now is to get healthy," Rodriguez said. "There's a lot of baseball to be played this year. When I get back out there, I want to be close to 100 percent."