The Twins are off to a horrible start and currently sit 9 1/2 games back of the surprising first place Indians. Their season has been an up-and-down and they have not been able to find any consistent starting pitching.  The Twins gave the ball to Francisco Liriano tonight who has struggled mightily posting a 9.13 ERA so far compared to a 3.62 ERA last season.

Liriano came into the game having never thrown a shutout. Tonight, he not only threw his first shutout of his career, but he also ended up throwing a no-hitter. It was an unlikely no-no as Liriano battled control problems the entire night. Liriano’s final line was 6 walks, 2 K’s, 123 pitches/66 strikes.

Liriano’s no-hitter was the first of the 2011 season after a plethora of pitchers have come close. This was also the first no-hitter for the Twins since Eric Milton pitched did it on September 11, 1999 against the Angels.

For the White Sox, this was the 13th no-hitter thrown against them and the first since Bret Saberhagen did it in 1991 as a member of the Royals.

Image by LI Phil under the Creative Commons License.