The first no hitter in the 2011 MLB season is in the books and it belongs to an unlikely candidate, Minnesota Twins 
starter Francisco Liriano. The night was chilly but Liriano’s arm wasn’t as he threw 123 pitches and left the mound with a 1-0 shutout win over the Chicago White Sox after walking six and striking out two throughout the night.
Why was a no-hit performance like this unexpected?
Liriano entered the game with a 1-4 record and an embarrassing 9.13 ERA; stats that were raising the possibly of the coaching staff relegating him to the bullpen.
As his pitch count escalated to numbers normally justifying to be pulled, Liriano left enough energy in the tank to get through the 9th inning. He finished the game by getting a struggling Adam Dunn to line out to shortstop; then the celebration began.
In his post-game presser Liriano said:
“To be honest I was running out of gas. I just thank my teammates that they made some great plays behind me tonight.”
Liriano, who was 3-0 against the White Sox last season, improved his record to 2-4 while his ERA improved by almost three to 6.61; securing spot in the starting rotation for now.
Ironically, this win comes against another starter who hurled a no-no last season, Edwin Jackson, who despite having one of his best outings of the season dropped to 2-4 after coming out of the gate with a 2-0 record. On June 26, 2010 while pitching for the Diamondbacks, Jackson no-hit Tampa Bay.
Lirianos’ no hitter is the first for the Twins since 1999 and the 7th in the franchise’s history.
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Used with permission of the author.
Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.
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