Phil Hughes set a single-season major league record for strikeout-to-walk ratio, pitching eight strong innings for the Minnesota Twins in a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on a wet Wednesday afternoon.
Hughes finished his first year with the Twins with the same number of wins and walks. With 186 strikeouts, his 11.63 ratio became the best of all time for pitchers with a qualifying amount of innings. Hughes beat Bret Saberhagen, who had 143 strikeouts and 13 walks for the New York Mets in 1994 for an 11.00 ratio.
Hughes struck out five without a walk and allowed only a sacrifice fly by David Peralta in the sixth.
The game was delayed 66 minutes by rain falling hard enough that it was dripping off the brim of Hughes’ cap as he walked off the mound after the eighth. Jared Burton closed for his third save.
