Rain delay costs Twins’ Phil Hughes $500,000 bonus

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ batters couldn’t get to Minnesota Twins pitcher Phil Hughes on Wednesday, but the rain sure did.

Hughes came one out shy of pitching 210 innings this season and receiving a $500,000 bonus, thanks in part to a 66-minute rain delay.

“Some things are not meant to be; that’s the case this time,” Hughes told the Pioneer Press.

The Twins ace had thrown eight innings on 96 pitches and looked primed to throw his second complete game of the season before the skies opened up and halted play before the start of the ninth inning.

After the delay, Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire elected to put in reliever Jared Burton, who collected his third save of the year.

Gardenhire said after the game that he has no plans to pitch Hughes out of the bullpen, effectively ending his chances at the bonus.

Surprisingly, the weather’s effect on keeping Hughes from hitting the 210 mark actually started earlier this month. He lost a start on Sept. 12 because of a rainout, pushing him back a day in the rotation.

Despite the Twins’ abysmal 68-90 season, it’s not all bad for Hughes.

He broke an MLB record with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.6, topping the previously set by former New York Mets pitcher Bret Saberhagen (11.0) in 1994. Hughes has walked only 16 total batters this season.

“Incredible. A lot of the things are amazing in what he’s done, and that is probably the most unique,” Gardenhire said. “You just don’t see that.”

Hughes, 28, signed a three-year, $24-million contract with Minnesota during the offseason after spending his first seven seasons in the majors with the New York Yankees.

Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme