(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
You sir, are my Man Crush of the Week. Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano threw the first no-hitter of the 2011 Major League Baseball season. A few things are awesome about this. He had a 9.13 ERA going into the game. Awesome. No-hitters with a final score of 9-0 are lame, like a wasted performance. The Twins only mustered up one run of their own, so they really needed Liriano to be nails up there. Nails. That what you think of with a no-no, right? The pitcher just dealing? Meh, not so much. He struck out two, and walked six. Kinda makes me love this more… because it was so far from a perfect game. Oh, and if you’re wondering where his motivation came from… Twins manager Ron Gardenhire spoke publicly about dumping Liriano from the starting rotation altogether. Hmmm…I guess he gets to hang around a little while longer, eh, Ron? And the most amazing part of this no-hitter? It was not against the San Diego Padres. Taste it, White Sox.
-bp