Liriano almost gets the shutout Devil Rays 1 at Twins 8 July 18th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
If not for Terry Tiffee’s error in the top of the ninth, Francisco Liriano would’ve had his first career complete game shutout. Tiffee pinch hit in the eighth for Justin Morneau and then took over at first in the field in the ninth. A routine grounder thrown to first dropped out of Tiffee’s glove to allow the leadoff runner to reach. After getting two outs Liriano gave up a single which allowed the first and only Tampa Bay run of the game to score. Ron Gardenhire opted to have Kyle Lohse come in to get the final out of the game.
Nonetheless, Liriano pitched a marvelous game showing everyone that last week’s bad start was just a fluke. Liriano gave up no earned runs, no walks and just 3 hits through 8 2/3 innings. He struck out 7. Liriano becomes the first Twin to reach 11 wins.
The Twins bats were also on against lefty Scott Kazmir. The Twins compiled 8 runs on 12 hits and 2 walks. Punto, Mauer and White each had 2 hits in the game. Josh Rabe got his first big league hit in the 7th and scored later in that inning on a Nick Punto 2-run single.
Nick Punto apparently wasn’t bothered much by the knee he hurt in Monday’s game. He was 2-3 with 3 RBI as he pushed his season average to an impressive .318. Punto has an 11 game hit streak going.
Game Notes
- Joe Mauer had 2 hits for the second straight night.
- Justin Morneau hit his 25th homer of the season in the fourth inning. It was also his 78th RBI.
- Jason Tyner and Jason Bartlett each scored 2 runs from the bottom of the lineup.
Playoffs looking more realistic?
With Toronto’s loss, the Twins are now in third place in the Wildcard and 6 game behind the White Sox for the lead. The White Sox beat the Tigers on Tuesday, and as I write this the Yankees are tied with Seattle in a 9th inning rain delay. The Twins are 3 game behind the Yankees for second in the wildcard race.
It’s no secret that the Twins have played well in the Dome this year. I’m going to keep my playoff hopes restrained until I see how they play in the upcoming 6 game road trip that begins this weekend in Cleveland and ends with 3 games against the White Sox.
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Phil Renaud wrote: July 19th, 2006 at 12:03 am
Liriano is a god amongst sinkerball throwers. Everybody in my fantasy league thought I was crazy for drafting him as high as I did, but it sure it paying off nicely now.
And as much as I root for the Tigers here at home, I'd sure love to see the Twins give the Sox a race for the wildcard.