The Minnesota Twins are wrapping up their fourth-straight 90-plus loss season and while there have been some encouraging signs from youngsters, it has been a brutal last couple months for a club that dominated the AL Central for almost an entire decade.
Veteran pitcher Phil Hughes has been one of the very few bright spots and set the MLB’s all-time record for best strikeout-to-walk ratio on Wednesday, his last start of 2014. While that record ratio of 11.63 is incredible, Hughes was also subjected to something less incredible. He entered the start needing 8 1/3 innings to reach 210 innings for the year, a number that is only relevant because it would earn him a $500,000 bonus.
Hughes was cruising through eight innings and appeared to have the bonus in the bag, that is until rain hit Minneapolis and delayed the ballgame for 1 hour, 6 minutes. He did not return to the mound when play resumed in the 9th, missing the massive check by one flippin’ out.
Asked if he knew about the dilemma, he said, “I was very aware of it, but some things aren’t meant to be.”
Yes, the guy signed a 3 year/$24 million contract last offseason so he’s far from an unprivileged man but it still stings.
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Photo Courtesy: Tony Gutierrez/AP
