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Twins hope to get Liriano on track vs. Orioles

Apr 18, 2011 - 2:42 PM (Sports Network) - Francisco Liriano tries to put another dreadful outing behind him this evening when the Minnesota Twins open a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

After giving up eight runs over 9 1/3 innings in losing his first two starts, Liriano was shelled by Kansas City on Wednesday for seven runs and eight hits in five innings, dropping him to 0-3 on the year, while raising his earned run average to 9.42.

"He was making pitches," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I didn't think he was trying to overthrow the ball and he was using all of his pitches. They just found some holes in the one inning."

The left-hander's problems have come after his first time through the lineup. All the runs allowed to the Royals came after the third inning, as Liriano has allowed batters to hit .545 against him the second time through the order.

Despite going 3-0 last April, Liriano has traditionally been a slow starter and owns a 4-10 lifetime mark in April with a 5.23 ERA.

The Twins snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday, as Matt Tolbert capped a three-run fifth inning with an RBI triple, helping Minnesota salvage the finale of the four-game series with a 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field.

Jason Kubel clubbed a solo home run for the Twins, while Brian Duensing (1-0) tossed seven strong innings, limiting the Rays to two runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

"It's about time we won a ball game. We actually played well enough in this series to win three games and we only come out of here with one," said Gardenhire.

Baltimore, meanwhile, continues to struggle following its impressive start. After opening the year with six wins in seven games, the Orioles have now lost seven in a row following a 4-2 loss to Cleveland on Sunday.

"We just need to trust our people," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "They're working hard. They're very frustrated right now because they know they're better than that. We've had some bad luck, too. We're going to be a good club before this is over."

Hoping to reverse the O's fortunes tonight will be right-hander Chris Tillman, who has been awful since throwing six scoreless, hitless innings in his season debut. Tillman's worst outing came on Wednesday in New York, as the Yankees battered him for six runs and nine hits in just 1 2/3 innings, dropping him to 0-1 on the year, while raising his ERA to 7.30.

Tillman lost his only other start to the Twins, despite allowing only two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Minnesota was 5-3 against the O's last season.