Yankees’ Hughes hits stride

Phil Hughes had such a lively fastball that he just kept pumping in one after another, and that was enough to dominate the highestscoring lineup in the majors.

Hughes fired eight shutout innings of four-hit ball for his first win of the season, leading the New York Yankees past the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Saturday.

Chris Stewart and Lyle Overbay homered off Bartolo Colon, sending the A’s to their only loss in his six starts this year. Hughes (1-2) struck out nine and outpitched his former Yankee teammate for his first win since Sept. 20 against Toronto.

“I feel like I’m kind of clicking right now,” said Hughes, who can become a free agent this fall. “I’m just happy that I’m starting to find my stride and hopefully we can maintain what I’m doing throughout the course of the season.”

Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner each had an RBI single for the Yankees, who bounced back from a 2-0 loss to A.J. Griffin in the series opener and improved to 7-2 on their 10-game homestand.

Oakland has dropped 10 of 15 after opening the season 12-4. The A’s, who had won six of eight against New York, are 13-3 against AL West teams and 4-11 vs. everyone else.

The Dodgers put shortstop Hanley Ramirez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring Saturday, a day after he hurt himself running the bases. Ramirez began the season on the DL and was only reinstated last Monday following surgery on his right thumb.

RAMIREZ OUT AGAIN: