Francisco Liriano has been dominant throughout August. Now he has a chance to close the month by helping the Minnesota Twins regain first place in the AL Central as they continue their weekend road set with the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night.
Liriano (4-3, 3.83 ERA) tries for his fifth consecutive winning decision since returning from a stint in the minors after losing his first three starts of 2008. He allowed one run and five hits in six innings of a 4-2, 11-inning loss at Seattle on Monday, but is 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA in five starts this month."He's a lot more confident right now," rookie outfielder Denard Span told the Twins' official web site.
Liriano, though, is 1-2 with a 9.53 ERA in four starts versus Oakland and allowed one unearned run in five innings of a 3-1 win over the A's on Aug. 20 after giving up six runs in two-thirds of an inning in an 11-2 road loss to them on April 24.
Regardless, the left-hander is in position to help Minnesota (76-59) move into first place after beating Oakland 12-2 on Friday to even the four-game set. The Twins are one-half game back of division-leading Chicago, which lost at Boston earlier Friday evening. Minnesota hasn't been in first place since Aug. 23 when it lost the first of four straight contests.
"We just started hitting and balls were flying everywhere," manager Ron Gardenhire said of the Twins, who had 20 hits Friday. "That lifts our confidence. We've been fighting through some things."
On Friday, Joe Mauer went 5-for-6 with four RBIs, while Justin Morneau had four hits for the Twins, who have won two of their last three and are 4-5 on their season-high 14-game road trip.
"I hope we can get this momentum and keep going," Mauer said. "It's nice to be on this side of a game like this."
Mauer, who matched a career high for hits, is 12-for-26 with five RBIs in six games against Oakland this season, while Morneau is 13-for-26 in his last six contests overall.
Minnesota will try for another big offensive night when it faces Oakland's Dallas Braden (4-3, 4.13). Braden looks for his second straight victory after allowing one run and seven hits in seven innings of a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
"I was happy about the way I was attacking the strike zone and pitching to contact," said Braden, who did not strike out or walk a batter in his last outing. "Before I was a guy who wanted to light up the Ks. But now I'm a guy who really just tries to let the defense do their job."
The left-hander gave up three runs in 5 2-3 innings of a 3-1 loss at Minnesota on Aug. 20 in his only previous appearance versus the Twins.
Jack Cust hit a two-run homer and Kurt Suzuki had a pair of hits Friday for Oakland (62-73), which lost for the second time in five games. Suzuki has eight hits with eight RBIs in eight games against Minnesota this season.
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