Hartman: Liriano's progress impresses Anderson

After beginning the season with an ERA of 9.13 in his first five starts, Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano, who limited the Rangers to one run and two hits in eight innings Sunday, is 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA in his past six starts.

Liriano appeared headed for his second no-hitter of the season before the Rangers' Adrian Beltre led off the eighth inning with a single. Beltre then advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Yorvit Torrealba's single.

Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson called Liriano's performance better than his no-hitter on May 3 against the White Sox.

But Anderson said Liriano has one fault, and that is what got him trouble in the eighth.

"The biggest thing is in his delivery. If he stays tall and doesn't try to overmatch and throw everything as hard as he can, and just let his pitches work for him, he's successful," Anderson said. "As you saw for seven innings today, he was under control of everything and in control of his pitches and his body. He went out in the eighth, after a long [half-]inning, and started rushing everything again. But if he keeps himself under control and uses all of his pitches, he's as good as they get."

Anderson said the reason for Liriano's slow start and high ERA was that the lefthander had a little arm stiffness.

"He came into spring with a little bit of tenderness in his shoulder, so he got behind everyone," Anderson said. "Obviously you know now that once we DL'd him and got him strong and healthy again, he's been throwing the ball a lot better. Now he's strong and he throws great, so that's a good thing. ... He's kind of figured himself out and getting himself comfortable again."

For instance, Drew Butera is hitting .174 for the season but has hit .421 in the six games he has caught in that 11-game span. Other hot bats during that stretch are Luke Hughes, who was hitting .167 in Rochester but has hit .414 in eight games; Alexi Casilla, who is hitting .256 for the season but is at .355 during this period; Matt Tolbert, who was at .207 compared with .270; Delmon Young, .246 to .340; and Michael Cuddyer, .240 to .325. The Twins' composite batting average for the 11-game stretch is .276, compared with .244 for the season.

The pitching staff also has improved dramatically during the 9-2 stretch. The Twins have a 1.82 ERA in the past 11 games, compared with 4.34 for the season.

If they can keep this up there might be hope yet for this team to do well the rest of the season.

Jottings• Twins designated hitter Jim Thome said his injury problems are all over, and Monday morning he will head to Fort Myers, Fla., where he will hit in a few games before returning to the active list with the Twins later this week.

• The Twins' Joe Mauer caught seven more innings and went 1-for-4 with a double for the Class A Fort Myers Miracle on Sunday. He has played six games with the Miracle and has two runs and six RBI in 19 at-bats and is sporting a .263 average.

• And before Sunday, Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey, who is rehabbing at Fort Myers, had pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run and three hits with a 1.35 ERA.

• The Twins promoted former Gophers reliever Cole DeVries from Class AA New Britain, where he had a 2.28 ERA, to Rochester, where he has appeared in six games, pitching 9 1/3 with two earned runs on eight hits for an impressive 1.93 ERA. ... The Twins also promoted former Gopher Nate Hanson from Fort Myers to New Britain, where he has played only two games before Sunday and was hitting .125.

• Alan Page, the Vikings' Hall of Fame defensive tackle and current Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, became the first athlete given an honorary degree by Duke (doctor of human letters) at its May commencement exercises. Page was in good company with other honorary degree recipients, including Rita Dove, former U.S. poet laureate; former North Carolina Gov. James Hunt; U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki; and John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc.

• Saturday night, some 120 people attended a surprise 60th birthday party for Gophers men's basketball coach Tubby Smith. A chartered plane brought 43 of Smith's relatives, including his mother, to the the Twin Cities for the party.

• Ricky Rubio's Regal Barca team won the first two games of the best-of-five ABC Finals and will seek the Spanish League Championship on Tuesday against Bilbao. In the series opener, Rubio scored no points but had five assists, two rebounds, one block and two steals in 17 minutes. In Game 2 on Saturday, Rubio had three points on 1-for-3 shooting, along with two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 11 minutes.

Terry Ryan, Twins senior adviser, said Pettersen has all the tools to be a good shortstop or second baseman with good speed and good hands.

Two Gophers remain unsigned: pitcher Austin Lubinsky (36th round, 1,107th overall by the San Francisco Giants) and pitcher TJ Oakes (41st round, 1,258th overall by the Twins). Oakes, who is pitching this summer in the Cape Cod League, is unlikely to sign.

• Twins first-round draft pick Levi Michael and his University of North Carolina squad advanced to the College World Series after defeating Stanford 6-5 in a Super Regional on Saturday. Michael went 3-for-8 with a run scored in the Tar Heels' two-game sweep.

• Wayzata native Tim Herron finished tied for third place at the FedEx St. Jude Classic this weekend, shooting a 5-under-par 65 on Sunday. Coming into the event, Herron was 106th on the PGA Tour money list with earnings of just more than $409,000 in 2011. Herron has made the cut in six of his past seven events.