Francisco Liriano had another rough outing for the Twins as Minnesota got blown out at home by the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 8-2 on Wednesday night.
Liriano gave up hits to the first five Tampa Bay hitters, resulting in four runs for the Rays before Minnesota even registered an out in the top of the first. He allowed, in order, a double to Sam Fuld, a single to Johnny Damon, a double to B.J. Upton, a triple to Ben Zobrist, and a single to Sean Rodriguez before finally registering a couple of strikeouts and eventually getting out of the inning.
His struggles continued into the top of the fourth, when he allowed a single to Dan Johnson and then walked Reid Brignac and Fuld to load the bases before being lifted for young Eric Hacker. Liriano's final line on the night showed him with three-plus innings pitched, seven runs allowed (all earned) on six hits, four walks and four strikeouts.
Liriano's record fell to 1-4 on the season, and his ERA has risen to 9.13. To his credit, Hacker did a decent job, being credited with only one unearned run in 3.1 innings pitched.
Tampa's Wade Davis had no such problems against a Minnesota offense that continues to scuffle. Minnesota's only runs came on a Jason Kubel RBI single in the bottom of the third and Alexi Casilla's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. Davis raised his record to 3-2 on the year by pitching 6.2 innings, scattering seven hits and only allowing those two runs.
The same two teams will get together at Target Field for a doubleheader on Thursday, with the first game starting at 12:10 PM Central time.