News: Roger Clemens return was overshadowed Thursday night by his opponent, as Liriano looked brilliant in dismantling the Houston Astros. Liriano allowed just four hits, including a two-run shot in his final inning, in eight brilliant innings of work as he won for the sixth time in seven starts this season. Liriano had phenomenal command tonight, getting ahead of just about every Astros hitter, and his stuff was just making the 'Stros look helpless at times.
Views: Liriano has yet to allow more than three runs in any of his seven starts. Though the first two weren't quality starts (only lasted five innings), he has arguably been the most dominant pitcher in the league since being inserted in the Twins' rotation. In those seven starts, Liriano has now allowed just eight runs in forty-four innings of work (1.64 ERA) with a 0.89 WHIP. He's fanned forty-two in those forty-four innings since joining the rotation, and has actually seen a bizarre one-inning spike every two outings. He went five in his first two starts, six in his next two, seven in his last two, and then eight tonight.
Liriano had a chance to implode here, with a ton of pressure put on him in Roger Clemens' first start. To pile on, he was given even more of an opportunity to fall apart when the Astros' first two hitters reached (the second on Jason Lane's two-run homer) in the eighth inning and cut his lead to 4-2. His response was calm, however, as he dominated Brad Ausmus before inducing a mid-range flyout and a popup to short to get out of trouble. The scary part is that he's only going to continue to get better.
