Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter VI Mobile College Basketball March Mayhem Picks College Basketball March Mayhem Picks VegasInsider.com VegasInsider.com
Handicapper Bios Sports Picks Free Odds Contests Sportsbook
VI Home NFL NBANHLMLBNCAA FBNCAA BKGolfAutoHorsesBoxingVI More Sports
 
MLB Scores Matchups Teams Standings
 
 · Regular Season
Schedules Injuries News
 
 · Latest News
 · Player Updates
 · Transactions
Buy Picks Vegas Odds
 
 · Vegas Odds
 · Offshore Odds
 · Future Odds
 
Recap: Twins , Pirates
 •  BT Movements
Game: 0
Venue:
Date: March 18, 2009 1:05 PM EDT
  

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -Francisco Liriano was about as confused as he was wild.

After dominating batters for much of spring training, Liriano walked four and allowed two runs in the Minnesota Twins' 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

``My second inning, I lost my strike zone,' said Liriano, who had reconstructive surgery on his left elbow in 2007. ``I don't know what happened.'

Advertisement

Liriano had walked just one batter and struck out 10 in two previous outings this spring training before the second.

In the inning, Adam LaRoche singled then Liriano walked LaRoche's brother Andy and Neil Walker to load the bases with no outs. He then got two groundouts - one a double play following an error - to escape having given up two runs, one earned.

``Yeah, (the spring) has been going well for me,' said Liriano, whose ERA rose by .01 to 2.20. ``All my pitches are looking good this year. My slider's looking better. I've been throwing my fastball better. But not (Wednesday). I couldn't throw fastballs for strikes.'

Matt Tolbert and Delmon Young homered off Pirates starter Zach Duke. Anderson Machado singled in the winning run. Jeff Salazar, who had advanced on an errant pickoff attempt by Minnesota reliever Kevin Mulvey and Andrew McCutchen's single, scored the winning run.

In four innings, Liriano stuck out two, walked four and allowed one hit.

``Frankie was pretty good,' Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire said. ``Kind of missing with his fastball, it was diving all over the place. He was throwing a two-seamer, and it was really diving. He got a little better after he settled down. I think he was trying to be a little too mechanical. After (pitching coach Rick Anderson) talked to him, he got going a little better. So that was pretty good.'

Duke had his longest start of the spring, giving up five hits and two runs in five innings. He struck out four.

Pirates coach Tony Beasley, who managed Duke in the minors, thinks the left-hander looks as if he appears to be pitching the way he was when he went 8-2 as a rookie in 2005. Duke is 18-37 since then,

``That's what I saw in his past,' Pirates coach Tony Beasley said of the outing.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2012
The Associated Press
All Rights Reserved

 BETTING TRENDS
 Team  ML   RUN   O/U 
 MIN         
 PIT         
BT MOVEMENTS

 
 
  
GOLD Membership
Receive a 20% discount on all Daily Picks. Signup Today!
 
 
Las Vegas Travel
 
 

NFL
NFL Picks
NFL Odds
NFL Matchups
NFL Scores

NBA
NBA Picks
NBA Odds
NBA Matchups
NBA Scores

MLB
MLB Picks
MLB Odds
MLB Matchups
MLB Scores


NCAA FB
NCAA FB Picks
NCAA FB Odds
NCAA FB Matchups
NCAA FB Scores

NCAA BK
NCAA BK Picks
NCAA BK Odds
NCAA BK Matchups
NCAA BK Scores

NHL
NHL Picks
NHL Odds
NHL Matchups
NHL Scores


More Sports
Golf
Auto Racing
Horse Racing
Boxing
UFC
WNBA
Soccer

Features
Free Odds
Mobile Odds
Contests
Newsletters
VI Radio
Las Vegas Travel
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook


Sports Betting Tools
Live Odds
Parlay Calculator
Gaming Terms
TV Listings
Handicapping Records
Sportsbook Reviews

VegasInsider Info
About Us
Help Center
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Contact Us
User Feedback

Sportsbooks
BetOnline.ag
Bodog.ca
Bookmaker
Bovada.lv
SBG Global.eu
Sportsbook
TopBet.com

Rotation Schedules
Baseball:

 
Mar 28 - June 5

Copyright © 1997-2012, VegasInsider.com Inc., The Global Leader In Sports Gaming Information. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-211-4759.