ARLINGTON, Texas – Phil Hughes was working on a no-hitter in the seventh inning of his second major league start when an injury cost him a chance to make history.

That was the only bit of bad news for the New York Yankees, who responded to George Steinbrenner’s statement in a big way Tuesday night with a 10-1 rout of the Texas Rangers.

Hank Blalock hit a leadoff double against reliever Mike Myers in the eighth inning for Texas’ first hit, not long after Hughes (1-1) left with an apparent leg injury and became the latest New York pitcher to go down.

The 20-year-old right-hander, considered one of the top prospects in baseball, was cruising along in a dominant performance when he winced and grabbed his left thigh after throwing an 0-2 breaking ball to Mark Teixeira with one out in the seventh. It was Hughes’ 83rd pitch.

Yankees manager Joe Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and a trainer came out to the mound to check on Hughes, who was removed from the game and walked gingerly back to the dugout, where he received a warm reception from teammates. The nature of the injury wasn’t immediately known.

“He said he felt a pop,” catcher Jorge Posada said.

Hughes walked three and struck out six. He left with a 9-0 lead.

Hughes was called up from Triple-A Scranton to fill a spot in New York’s injury-depleted rotation. Mike Mussina (hamstring), Carl Pavano (forearm) and Jeff Karstens (broken right leg) are on the disabled list. Chien-Ming Wang also missed the first three weeks of the season with a hamstring injury.

AP-ES-05-01-07 2310EDT