Though Francisco Liriano’s current stint in the bush leagues is proving more fruitful than Orlando Hernandez‘, the former wasn’t in a celebratory mood after his latest rehab victory writes the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle’s Jim Mandelaro.
“I don’t know why they’re keeping me down here, to be honest,” the left-hander said Thursday night. “I don’t know why.”
Liriano let his pitching do most of the talking on a gorgeous night at Frontier Field, allowing just one run in eight dominating innings as the Wings topped the Norfolk Tides 7-4 at Frontier Field. He scattered seven hits, walked none and struck out eight.
“He just seems to get better and better,” Wings manager Stan Cliburn said. “He’s so sharp with his slider. He easily could have finished this game.”
Liriano’s agent, Greg Genske, made news this week by questioning the Twins’ motives in keeping the former phenom in Triple-A. Genske told Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com that he’s “extremely frustrated” that his client remains in the minors. Genske is calling for an investigation by the players’ union because he feels his client should be in the majors and is losing valuable service time.
Liriano (8-2) handled the issue delicately after Thursday’s game, saying: “I think I’m ready to go. I’m just taking care of business right now. It’s not frustrating. I try to be patient and do my job. I just (want to) keep on doing what I’m doing now.”
Liriano’s fastball topped out at 96 mph. He extended his scoreless streak to 262/3 innings before giving up back-to-back doubles to Eider Torres and Luis Terrero in the sixth. It’s the second-longest streak by a Wings pitcher without allowing an earned run since the club began keeping team records in 1967. Nick Blackburn did not allow an earned run over 44 consecutive innings last year.
The Sporting News chose the headline of “Can Liriano (Fantasy) owners sue the Twins?”, though Matt Lutovsky’s item on the subject doesn’t really pose the question, instead concluding “unfortunately, fantasy owners who have had Liriano on their roster all this time can only bide their time and hope Livan Hernandez gets shelled again. There’s no other legal recourse.” Wow, really? Are you totally sure of this, Matt? Have you consulted an attorney? What’s the point of raising such a preposterous notion if you’re not gonna fully explore the possibility?
