Francisco Liriano has had his fair share of struggles this season, compiling a 9.13 ERA in five starts before his outing on Tuesday. But how quickly things can change. Liriano threw the first no-hitter of the 2011 season against the White Sox on Tuesday night, and according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, it's because Liriano got back to what made him successful before. He had been experimenting with a two-seam fastball, but under the direction of his pitching coach, decided not to use that on Tuesday.
"I said, 'Be who you are,'" (Rick) Anderson said. "No more two-seamers. Let's put that in the back pocket for a while and go with what makes you right. So to me, if you go out there and feel, 'I'm going to do good with this,' then you're going to do good with it."
The other important aspect of Liriano's performance is that he didn't let the importance of the start get to him. He needed to have a good outing to keep his spot in the rotation, and he managed to throw a no-hitter even with the pressure of potentially losing his job.