Francisco Liriano’s unconventional no-hitter
Francisco Liriano put himself in the baseball history books last week when he threw a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field. He joins an elite list of pitchers who have tossed a coveted no-no, after stringing together just the 265th such performance since 1875.
It was the first no-hitter for a Twins pitcher since 1999 when Eric Milton no-hit the LA Angels and the fifth in the Twins organization’s history, but where does the Liriano gem stack up in comparison to such accomplishments in the past.
Perhaps the most intriguing side note of this story is the fact that Liriano had never thrown even a complete game before, let alone a no-hitter. Not at any time during his six-year career in the Majors or his previous five seasons in minor league ball.
Even Liriano himself was surprised at how well the night went as he told MLB.com
“I didn’t expect a no-hitter or a complete game. I didn’t think I had my best stuff, so it was pretty crazy.”
It was not until the eighth inning that Liriano actually realized he had held the White Sox hitless to that point in the game. Liriano credits that to the fact that he had walked so many batters in the previous seven innings which helped him forget about the no-no still intact.
“If I would’ve realized, I might’ve went out there and tried to do too much. So it’s probably good I didn’t know,” he admitted.
Liriano, a Dominican Republic native, did not exactly produce the type of statistics you would expect from a no-hitter. At the end of the night he had walked six batters and only retired two of his 27 outs from the strikeout; the lowest amount of strikeouts in a no-hitter since 1980.
[php snippet=1]
After nine innings and 27 outs, Liriano had thrown 123 pitches and only 66 of those were for strikes (53% strike-to-ball ratio).
Those numbers are relevant to how the year had gone for Liriano up until he reached baseball history. Going into the game, Liriano had a 1-4 record with an earned run average of 9.13. It was the second highest ERA entering a game for a pitcher that threw a no-hitter and the highest since 1937. Liriano had also issued as many walks as strikeouts in his previous five starts and on average had surrendered more than one hit per inning of work.
In other words, the gem was the exception to what has been the the rule for Liriano so far this season, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Regardless of how well or how poor Liriano threw the ball, he had some great defense from his teammates that helped him secure the no-hit bid. In the seventh inning Carlos Quentin hit a ball down the third base line that pulled third baseman Danny Valencia behind the bag. He snagged the ball and threw a terrific, off-balance throw over to first just in time to get Quentin and record the out.
The eighth inning saw a controversial double play in which, when viewed on replay, it appears the umpires missed the call. Twins first baseman Justin Morneau seemed to have missed the tag on Gordon Beckham running to first but first base umpire Paul Emmel called him out.
The defense was once again counted on in the final inning. Morneau scooped a low throw out of the dirt from Matt Tolbert for the first out before Tolbert brought in a frozen liner off the bat of Adam Dunn to end the game and secure Liriano’s accomplishment.
What’s even more impressive about the no-hitter that Liriano threw is the fact that he underwent Tommy John Surgery in November of 2006. As a result of the procedure he missed the entire 2007 baseball season and was deemed by many to be written off as a Major League caliber pitcher.
But valiantly, Liriano would battle the odds and rehab to no end. In 2008, he would return to the majors, but struggle to keep his spot on the Twins roster, spending time between the big club and their AAA affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings.
The 2009 season then saw Liriano post a dreadful 5-13 record with an ERA of 5.80, but manage to retain a spot on the 25-man roster for the entire year.
During that offseason, Liriano went home to the Dominican Republic and played winter baseball for Leones del Escogido. He pitched well for his home town club and with it came renewed optimism at the start of the 2010 Spring Training.
Last season Liriano went 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA over 191.2 innings while fanning 201 batters, good enough for fifth in the American League. He had officially returned.
Though Liriano has proven that he can pitch at the elite level, it’s hardly been a masterpiece career. The start to this season has been anything but consistent and after last year’s solid numbers it could even be considered an outright a failure.
Only time will tell if his unassuming slice of no-hit history will change the course of his 2011 campaign.
In all, it was an historic night littered with side stories; a pitcher that walked more than he struck out, a controversial call that went in favor of the man on the mound and Gold Glove-type defense coming together to deny what looked like sure base hits, but the stories all end the same.
As far as history is concerned, on the night of Tuesday, May 3, 2011, Francisco Liriano was unhittable.
[php snippet=1]
