(My Sportsbook) - Phil Hughes will try to build off a successful first start of the season when he takes the hill for the New York Yankees this afternoon in the finale of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Yankee Stadium.

Hughes made his season debut this past Tuesday against Detroit and twirled an outstanding game, holding the Tigers scoreless through six innings. Hughes scattered just two hits and also struck out six batters in helping New York capture the 11-0 victory.

Hughes has made one career start against the Angels, but there was not many positive things the young hurler accomplished in that meeting. In that matchup, which took place on August 20, 2007, Hughes was wildly inconsistent and allowed five runs on four hits and five walks in 6 1/3 innings. He also struck out four batters in the contest and did not factor in the decision.

Taking the mound for the Angels this afternoon will be Joe Saunders, who is also coming off a solid victory. The last time the southpaw was on the bump, he held the Orioles to just four runs -- two earned -- on 10 hits on Tuesday. Saunders lasted six innings for the Angels and helped push the team to a 7-5 victory.

Saunders has only squared off against the Bronx Bombers three times in his career. In those three starts, the crafty lefty has accumulated a poor 7.63 earned run average along with a 1-1 record.

Yesterday, Matt Palmer threw three-hit ball into the seventh inning for his second big league win, while Torii Hunter keyed a four-run seventh inning with a two-RBI double as the Angels earned an 8-4 victory over New York.

Howie Kendrick went 2-for-5 and drove in the go-ahead run in the big inning, while Kendry Morales added a pair of hits with a homer and two runs batted in for the Angels, who dropped the first two of this series but have won four of their last six.

Palmer (2-0) has now won his first two starts of the season. After beating Detroit in his Angels debut on April 23 despite giving up four earned runs in six innings, he limited the Yankees to just one run on Saturday. The right- hander, who was 0-2 in three starts for San Francisco last year, walked two and struck out a pair over 6 1/3 innings.

Yankees ace CC Sabathia (1-3) lost his second straight start and is 0-2 in his last four outings since earning his lone victory of the season at Kansas City on April 11. He worked five scoreless innings before unraveling and was tagged for five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 6 2/3 frames.

The Yankees had a season-high four-game win streak stopped and had won five in a row in their new ballpark.

Jorge Posada clubbed a two-run homer for New York. He also homered on Friday and had the winning hit, a two-run single in the ninth inning, of his team's 10-9 triumph that night. Robinson Cano went 0-for-4 in defeat and saw his 18- game hitting streak come to an end.

Since the beginning of the 2006 season, the Angels have collected a strong 20-12 mark against the Yankees. Anaheim won seven of its 10 meetings with the Yanks last season, but the teams split their four matchups at the old Yankee Stadium.