Phil Hughes

Minnesota Twins right-hander Phil Hughes will begin the season on the disabled list with a strained left oblique.

Phil Hughes was a bright spot for the Minnesota Twins last season, and now the team is rewarding him with an extended contract.

There has been one consistent bright spot for the Minnesota Twins in starting pitcher Phil Hughes. Hughes fell just one out short of a $500,000 bonus.

The rain dripped off the brim of his cap as Phil Hughes walked off the mound. An hour-plus delay meant the last start of his first season for Minnesota was over. That half-million-dollar bonus stayed one out away. He still earned a nice prize: the major league record for strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Jose Quintana struck out a career-high 13, Alexei Ramirez homered and the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday.

Albert Pujols homered and hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the ninth inning for his 2,500th hit, leading the Los Angeles Angels over Minnesota 8-5 Saturday night for their third straight win over the Twins.

The Minnesota Twins were counting on their best pitcher to pull the team out of its latest funk, and Phil Hughes delivered.

The Kansas City Royals conjured up a little more late-game magic Wednesday night. This time, they didn't wait until the ninth inning.

Phil Hughes has been pitching with a cracked nail on his right index finger, a common side effect of the sharp curveball he throws. He's kept the nail intact with super glue. The big righty has done a nice job of holding the Minnesota Twins' rotation together, too.

Kurt Suzuki rarely makes errors or hits home runs. He did both on Saturday night, and the homer made up for a bad throw that could have cost Minnesota another game. The All-Star catcher went 2 for 3 with a solo homer and made an impressive slide into home plate that helped lift the Twins over first-place the Kansas City Royals, 4-1.