Jim Souhan: Liriano pitches like it's 2006 again

Of all the promising moments in Twinsville the last few months, from the signing of Joe Mauer and the christening of the new ballpark to Jon Rauch's five saves, none produced as much optimism for the 2010 season as what happened on Thursday afternoon at Target Field, when Francisco Liriano made his teammates simultaneously nostalgic and hopeful.

"He was awesome," Nick Punto said.

"He was nasty," Denard Span said.

"He's getting close," Jason Kubel said, "to what he used to be."

On a sun-drenched day at Target Field -- can a ballpark grow on you in just four days, when you thought it was great on Day 1? -- Liriano pitched with poise and intelligence. He gave up four hits and two walks, striking out eight in seven innings, as the Twins beat Boston 8-0 to win their first three series of the year for the first time since 1987.

And you know what happened in 1987: Alan Greenspan became chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

Ever since he temped as Frankie Franchise in 2006 by dominating the American League with his slider, Liriano had become over-reliant on the pitch.

"The key was he didn't overuse his slider," pitching coach Rick Anderson said. "He used his fastball and changeup to get ahead, and kept the slider in his back pocket."

"I try not to throw too many sliders, especially to a veteran team like that," Liriano said. "If you throw sliders early in the count, they'll just take them."

One of the fascinating elements of baseball is that the key moment of the game could occur in any half-inning. Thursday, it occurred in the top of the first, with runners on second and third with one out and Kevin Youkilis at the plate. Liriano struck him out with a slider in the dirt, then got Adrian Beltre to ground to third.

Liriano escaped another two-on, one-out jam in the second, and from that point retired 11 in a row. After throwing 37 pitches in the first two innings, he required just 59 to ease through the next five.

"He still threw 26 sliders, but he threw most of them when he was in trouble," Anderson said.

"Today was the best I've felt since '06," Liriano said.

Red Sox outfielder Bill Hall noticed.

"He should be very proud of himself, the way he threw the ball today," Hall said. "He's definitely got his old stuff back. He's probably healthy again, 100 percent healthy. After a surgery like that, it usually takes a little time, but he's got the velocity back on his slider.

"For me personally, in the past, he hadn't thrown his changeup that well. He threw it pretty well today, and just didn't give in to a lot of hitters and never made any mistakes. When you've got a guy making you swing at his pitch all the time, it's going to be a pretty tough day."

The Twins began the season without a proven ace or closer. Today, Rauch is 5-for-5 in save opportunities, and Liriano has his teammates wondering how good this team could be if he keeps pitching the way he did Thursday.

"He looked really confident," Punto said. "That's our wild card. I feel like we'll be as strong as he is."

"If he can do that, now you've got a No. 1 starter [Liriano] up against 4s and 5s, because of the way rotations are lined up," Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer said.

Maybe we're all overreacting to one start, but it's hard to sit in Target Field on a gorgeous afternoon and watch Liriano handcuff a playoff team without succumbing to nostalgia, and optimism.