Rocket a little off-course: Clemens goes five innings, suffers defeat to Twins in 2006 debut
HOUSTON — Francisco Liriano stole the show. Undaunted by the hype surrounding future hall of famer Roger Clemens’ season debut, the Twins’ rookie phenom thrust himself into the national spotlight with a masterful pitching performance in a 4-2 victory over Houston on Thursday night. The 22-year-old left-hander overshadowed No. 22’s party, flexing his three-pitch arsenal in front of a national television audience and the largest crowd (43,769) ever at Minute Maid Park, which opened in 2000. Liriano (7-1) allowed two runs on four hits and struck out seven over eight innings. He faced the minimum number of batters through 6 2/3 innings.
I’m a devoted Astros fan…unless they’re playing the Minnesota Twins, the team I grew up worshipping (he says as he conjures the ghosts of Tony Oliva, Cesar Tovar, Dean Chance, and Rod Carew, et. al.…). For the past three nights, the Twins have been in Houston, taking two of three from the (for the moment, seemingly) hapless Astros. I’d watched Tuesday and Wednesday’s game on television, but She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities and Eric took me to the game. The tickets were my birthday present (two months late, but still greatly appreciated), and when She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities purchased them, no one had ANY idea that June 22nd would be Roger Clemens’ 2006 debut. So, not only did I get to see the team I grew up living and dying with beat my new hometown team, I got to be part of history. Last night’s crowd- the largest in the history of Minute Maid Park- was pretty charged up…that is, until the third inning, when Minnesota took a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Astros did nothing to support a not-all-that-bad performance from Clemens. He deserved better.
The Twins made Clemens work to get through five innings. Minnesota is a young, but well-disciplined and very patient team at the plate. They don’t swing at bad pitches, they work the count, they don’t swing for the fences, and when they get runners on base they play station-to-station baseball. With their payroll, they can’t afford to wait for the big inning, so they’ve found a system that works for them. Over the past few years, their “smallball” game has worked very well for them. I think the last time Minnesota had a player with a 30-HR season was sometime during the Nixon Administration.
And then there is Francisco Liriano, a name you may well want to remember, because we’ll be hearing a lot about him in years to come. Liriano is a rookie phenom who, with some experience under his belt, should be dominant for a long time to come.
Liriano, who was born in the same year (1984) that Roger Clemens got his first Major League win (against these very same Minnesota Twins), appears to be every bit the solid, dependable staff ace the Twins so desperately need. Last night, he dominated a pitcher old enough to be his father. Liriano has a decent curveball, an effective slider, an above average fastball, and a devastating change-up that befuddled Astros hitters all night long. Not bad for a rookie who didn’t even break into the Twins’ starting rotation until a few weeks ago, eh?
Starting pitching, which over the past few years has been a Minnesota strength, has been anything but this year, which makes the emerge of Francisco Liriano an even more welcome prospect. At one point earlier this season, three of the five Twins starters had ERAs over 8.00. It’s tough to win many games with starting pitching like that, but things have picked up of late, and after last night, Minnesota has won 10 of it’s last 11 games. Houston? Well, they just lost two of three to a HORRIBLE Kansas City Royals team and now two of three to Minnesota. So, other than that, how was the home stand??
Last year’s World Series seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it??
Normally, I’m rooting for the Astros. For the past three nights, though, I’ve reverted to being a Twins fan, and it’s been a blast. This is the one thing about interleague play that I’m not completely ambivalent about. For a transplated Minnesotan, last night was a whole lot of fun…though I was understandably part of a significantly underrepresented minority. Nonetheless, it was a great birthday present, and one I thoroughly enjoyed…which is more than can be said for Eric and She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities.
Happy Birthday to me…Happy Birthday to me….
Tonight, things return to normal for the family. The Astros go to Chicago, where they play a weekend series with the evil, blood-sucking White Sox, who just completed thoroughly dismantling the St. Louis Cardinals. So, I’ll be rooting for the Astros…until they play Minnesota again, which hopefully will be in a World Series. Man, THAT ought to strain domestic harmony to the breaking point….
