Twins 7, Brewers 1

The expectations were great, and the young lefthander met them confidently, not giving up a hit until the fourth inning. The offense helped his cause by blowing the game open with five runs in the eighth inning.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: May 20, 2006 - 12:35 AM

MILWAUKEE - Francisco Liriano energized the Twins with his arm and surprised them with his bat.

Even the Milwaukee Brewers were marveling Friday night, after this 22-year-old rookie helped steer the Twins to a 7-1 victory at Miller Park.

Making his highly anticipated 2006 starting debut, Liriano pitched five superb innings and delivered a run-scoring single in his first major league at-bat.

Michael Cuddyer hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning, just in time to get Liriano (2-0) the victory, and Tony Batista added a grand slam in the eighth inning.

But it was Liriano that had everyone buzzing after the Twins snapped their five-game losing streak.

"That's a special arm, and I can't believe the Giants gave him up; that's shocking to me," Milwaukee's Jeff Cirillo said. "They got Nathan, Bonser and Liriano for Pierzynski? Are you kidding me?"

No. And the Twins are thrilled to have opposing players reciting the entire 2003 transaction that sent A.J. Pierzynski to San Francisco for a trio of relatively unheralded pitchers -- Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Liriano. That group now makes up one-fourth of their major league staff.

The Twins were hoping Liriano's mere presence -- this 6-2 lefthander with the nasty repertoire -- could help spur a team-wide turnaround for the interleague opener.

He certainly did his part, limiting the Brewers to one run on two hits before an announced crowd of 28,762 that was laced with Minnesota fans.

"We got the win and I feel great," a smiling Liriano said. "I'm going to do my best, that's the only thing I do, can't help anything else."

The Twins had Liriano on a strict 70-pitch limit, and he finished with 68, walking three and striking out five. He also induced two huge double-play grounders to escape trouble in his final two innings.

Still, the numbers can't explain what the Milwaukee hitters went through in the batter's box. Cirillo was Liriano's first strikeout victim, and one of three Brewers to finish with a checked swing in the first inning.

"I've never faced a lefthander that threw 98 [miles per hour] before; I didn't know what to expect," Cirillo said.

Cirillo said Liriano throws harder than Twins ace Johan Santana but doesn't hide his fastball as well. Santana, of course, still has the better changeup.

"[Liriano] threw me a slider 0-and-2 that I fouled off," Cirillo said. "Then he threw a slider down into that Randy Johnson blind-spot area. So I didn't do real well off him."

The Brewers didn't have a hit until the fourth inning. Yes, after dropping a two-out bloop single into left field to score Lew Ford in the second inning, Liriano had more hits than Milwaukee to that point.

Leading off the fourth, Cirillo swung and missed at the first pitch before lining the 3-2 offering for a single to right field.

"I knew we were working on the guy's pitch count, but I didn't want him going 0-and-2 on me," Cirillo said of that first-pitch swing. "Forget that. I might get that slider again."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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