Francisco Liriano’s performance as a rookie in 2006 caused people to draw comparisons between him and teammate Johan Santana, but an August elbow injury sent him to the disabled list and ultimately led to offseason Tommy John surgery.
After missing all of the 2007 season, he returned to the major leagues in April 2008. He performed admirably in 2008 (6-4, 2.91), but last year was disastrous (5-13, 5.80).
He had lost his fastball and his ability to throw strikes. Most importantly, he lost his confidence.
He went to the Dominican Winter League hoping to find all three and succeeded. Folks who saw him pitch in the D-R said he was brilliant. He carried his newfound confidence into spring training and was very effective in Florida (2-0, 2.70, with five BB and 30 K in 20 IP).
Now, through two starts in the young season, it appears The Franchise (the nickname given to him in 2006) may be back.
This afternoon at Target Field, Liriano (1-0) beat the Red Sox for the first time in his career, shutting them out for seven innings in the Twins' 8-0 win. The southpaw allowed four hits and issued two walks while striking out eight.
After the game, Liriano said, “I haven’t felt like that since probably ‘06. My arm feels better. I have my confidence back.”
His confidence was palpable in today’s game. He relied heavily on his fastball and occasionally mixed in his oftentimes devastating slider. He worked quickly, as did Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. The game lasted just two hours and 38 minutes.
While Liriano was dealing, Wakefield was ducking. He was hit early and often...and when all was said and done, he allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and a walk in 5.1 IP. Every Twins starter had a hit except batting champ Joe Mauer. CF Denard Span had a pair of RBI doubles. RF Michael Cuddyer homered and drove in three runs.
Liriano allowed two baserunners in each of the first two innings but escaped damage with the help of a key strikeout and a double play. The Twins strung together three consecutive singles with two outs in the second inning to take the lead, with SS J.J. Hardy collecting the key RBI single.
They added three more runs in the fifth inning. 3B Nick Punto and Span (RBI) hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning. A strikeout and a walk later, 1B Justin Morneau singled into right field to score Span and send the baserunner (Mauer) around to third base. Cuddyer then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to make the score four-zip.
They added two runs off Wakefield in the sixth inning (Span two-run double) and scored two more runs off reliever Scott Schoeneweis in the seventh inning (Cuddyer two-run home run).
LHPs Jose Mijares and Ron Mahay finished the game off for the Twins with one scoreless inning apiece. Mijares escaped a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the eighth inning when he induced a double-play grounder from Adrian Beltre.
Of his effort, Wakefield said, “It was a really ugly game, and it started with me on the mound.”
But the story of the game was Liriano. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, “We’ve seen that before. You always hope you’re going to get a pitcher back after a major surgery like that. He’s still got a ways to go, but his stuff is there. There’s no doubt about it.”
Mike Lowell was the DH for the Red Sox against Liriano, a southpaw. He went 1-for-4.
Mike Cameron suffered what was termed an abdominal strain during batting practice and was held out of the game after being in the original lineup. He was in a lot of pain while talking with reporters after the game and did not travel with the team back to Boston afterwards. He checked into a Minneapolis hospital to have tests to rule things like appendicitis.
Jacoby Ellsbury missed another game with sore ribs. He said that he tried to hit off a tee but could not give it any more than 10 percent. He said he will be re-examined by Red Sox doctors tomorrow and that more tests may need to be done.
The Twins have the best defense in the league, having committed just one error in 10 games. The Red Sox entered the game tied for second with just two errors...but they committed THREE errors this afternoon.
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