Whether the change in Hughes has been the result of Andy Pettitte’s mentoring or just being healthy, the guy has turned his career around in his last starts and he’s making me eat my words about him. I still wish he’d go deeper into games, but he was great tonight. The Nationals came into the series with all the hype, but they got schooled by Hughes, who didn’t give up a homer for the first time this season.

For awhile it looked like the Yanks as a team were going to win their first game of the season without a homer, but Granderson nixed that with his blast. It was a satisfying victory. The offense, the defense, the pitching, the pen (welcome back, D-Rob!) were all fantastic (not counting Swisher’s ungraceful leap at the ball early on).

I got the game on the MLB Network and had to listen to some mind-numbingly boring stats (“The Nationals and Yankees play best on Friday nights”). And judging by people on Twitter, John and Suzyn were unhappy that their broadcast booth was so high up at the Nats’ ballpark. But it looked like a beautiful night for baseball and we won and nobody got hurt for a change. Plus, Girardi got his 500th “W” as our manager – deservedly. Oh, and Justice Sotomayor was at the game just like we predicted she would be. Love her.

Update: Hey, look who met up at the game! Friends of the Blog, Dave and Ruth, with a very excellent sign! Thanks to Dave for coming up with it and for Ruth for sending it along. Here they are…