Roger Clemens was the talk of baseball coming into his Thursday night season debut against the Twins. However, once the game started Francisco Liriano became the true star of the game. Roger Clemens struggled with his pitch count—he left the game after 5 innings with 100 pitches. The Twins managed 2 runs in the second off Clemens, and that was all he gave up. In total, he allowed 6 hits and 2 walks in the five innings he pitched. While Clemens was pretty good for a first start of the season, Liriano was better.

Francisco gave up just 2 hits through the first 7 innings and kept his pitch count remarkably low. He was helped immensely by 3 double plays. The Astros got to him a little bit in the 8th with a base hit and a Jason Lane homerun. Liriano went 8 innings for the first time and allowed just the 2 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. He's now 7-1 on the season and just a handful of innings shy of qualifying for the AL ERA lead; Johan Santana is the current leader. Liriano has five straight quality starts and has allowed more than 2 runs in only one of his starts.

Offensively, the run production was pretty spread out for the Twins with 4 guys getting an RBI. Justin Morneau had the best night, going 3-3 with a walk and his 18th homerun on the season. The Twins 3rd inning rally started on a Luis Castillo infield hit followed by him stealing second. Jason Kubel doubled to drive in Castillo and then was driven in himself on a Michael Cuddyer single.

Morneau added a run on his homerun in the 6th and the Twins' fourth run came in the 8th when Joe Mauer was driven in on a Torii Hunter single. When I saw Liriano's pitch count after seven innings fantasies of a complete game shutout began to roll through my mind. Astros hitters started to make solid contact on him in the eigth and he gave up the two runs which nixed the shutout hopes. At least Joe Nathan was given a save opportunity.

Game Notes

• The night after ending his 11-game hit streak, Morneau picked up 3 hits and his 18th homer.
• Jason Bartlett was 1-4 and has an 8-game hit streak; that's a hit in each game since being called up.
• Joe Nathan picked up his 11th save in 12 opportunities.
• The Twins have won four straight series and went 5-1 on the interleague road trip.

Cubbies coming to town

The Twins will start off a 9-game homestand with a weekend series against the Chicago Cubs. A Mark Prior vs. Johan Santana matchup has been advertised but MLB.com now has Carlos Marmol listed as the probable starter for the cubs. Marmol is a new addition to the Cubs rotation and on most nights he's really no match for Santana.

Parmalee signed

The Twins have signed 1st round pick Chris Parmalee which is a good sign since there had been some talk about him choosing to go to college instead (though it was likely just a bargaining tactic). The Twins don't release contract details, but it's rumored that he got a $1.75 million signing bonus. Not bad for a kid that just graduated High School.