Francisco Liriano’s scoreless pitching helps Minnesota Twins beat Chicago White Sox 1-0 – MLB Update
Minnesota Twins’ starter, Francisco Liriano dominated the pitching and threw nine scoreless innings as the Twins defeated the Chicago White Sox 1-0 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago on May 3.
Liriano played this game just for saving his spot in the rotation because it proved to be the worst season for him as he went with an ERA of 9.13 in the last five starts. It turned out to be a memorable moment for Liriano as he did not give away a single
hit to the White Sox batters.
Francisco said of the game, “It was a crazy night. When I go out there I try to think positive. I don't want to think about, 'They're going to put me in the bullpen.' I just try to do my best. To be honest I was running out of gas. I just thank my teammates.”
It seemed that the day was clouded with pitchers, as the scorecard remained empty for both sides until the third inning. Jason Kubel struck a solo home run against the White Sox starter Edwin Jackson during the fourth inning and led off the Twins 1-0. The
rest of the innings went without a score. Liriano erased Carlos Quentin and Pierre on double plays.
Liriano permitted six walks and had two strike-outs in his first complete game of the Major League. The ninth inning pitched by Liriano was amazing as Brent Morel was grounded out to short-stop. Juan Pierre had three walks but they were not enough to steal
a run. The White Sox had a miserable moment when Alexei Ramirez also popped out at the short-stop position.
Matt Tolbert took the position of short-stop when the Twins made some amendments and shifted Alexi Casilla on second base. Speaking to reporters, Tolbert said, “I was excited and a little nervous. It's not every day that you get to play behind a no-hitter.
I was thinking somehow we had to get this guy [Dunn] out. I know he's so dangerous. I was playing him up the middle a little bit, and he hit it in the right spot.”
Liriano threw a foul ball, after that Adam Dunn hit a hard shot against him but ended without a run. Dunn had his worst season so far as he was unable to score even a single run in last 16 at-bats. He did not play well against the left-hand pitchers. After
the loss, Dunn was disappointed and said, “As soon as I hit it, I saw him, and it was right to him. That's pretty much the story of the day. There were some balls that, again, they made some great defensive plays.”
Jackson pitched eight innings and allowed a single run on six hits with two strike-outs.
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