Postgame: Hughes' control is best in MLB history

A couple of leftovers from Target Field on Saturday:

BEST CONTROL EVER: Phil Hughes has now struck out 165 batters this season, the most by a Twin since Francisco Liriano whiffed 201 in 2010. And he's issued 15 walks this year, giving him a crazy walk-strikeout ratio of 11.0 -- trying him with Bret Saberhagen in 1994 as the best in major-league history (dating back to 1900). Best. Ever. Just remarkable. Hughes is working on another long stretch without a walk. He's at 155 straight hitters now since his last walk. Earlier this season, he went 178 straight. (The Twins' record is Brad Radke's 191 in a row in 2005.) Saturday's game marked the third time this season that Hughes has left the game with a lead, and wound up getting no decision. It hasn't happened since May, but Hughes' 15 wins could be as many as 18 in what has become a remarkable season.

LIKE A SUPER BALL: The Twins have been taking extra practice all week on fielding caroms off the new padding in the outfield, but this is clearly going to take some getting used to. Howie Kendrick drilled a shot off the center field wall in the eighth inning Saturday, and when Aaron Hicks raced back to retrieve it, the ball bounced back too quickly for him to track it down. "You all saw what we're talking about now," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That thing bounced back like a super ball." It did, and by the time Hicks caught up to it, Kendrick was on third, one more base than he likely would have had with the old padding. It probably won't be a big deal after the Twins have more practice with it, but it cost them on Saturday.

GET 'EM IN, NOT OVER: After Joe Mauer's leadoff double in the eighth inning, I assumed that the Twins would ask Kennys Vargas to pull the ball to right field off Joe Smith, in order to move the go-ahead run to third, where a sacrifice fly would score him. But Gardenhire said he had no plans to do so. "He's in the cleanup spot to drive the baseball. 'Get 'em over' is for the little guys. 'Get 'em in' is for the big guys," the manager said. "He's just trying to put the barrel on it and hit it hard. If the guy makes a mistake, he will hit it in the seats. To try to tell him to slap the ball to right, I won't do that." Didn't matter anyway. Vargas fouled off a couple of fastballs from Smith, then was froze by a slider for strike three. Two groundouts followed, and the opportunity was lost; the Twins were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.