Twins 4, Pirates 2

PITTSBURGH - The numbers are already eye-popping for Francisco Liriano.

Eleven strikeouts Friday night in a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates -- the most for a Twins pitcher not named Johan Santana since Eric Milton fanned 11 against the Chicago White Sox in 2002.

At age 22, Liriano is 6-1 with a 2.16 ERA.

The lefthander has 67 strikeouts -- second most on the team, behind Santana -- in 581/3 innings.

All of that is nice, but it doesn't fully describe the impact Liriano is making on the Twins.

His poise has become their poise, and suddenly they have matched their season high with another five-game winning streak.

Liriano started that streak Sunday with a victory over Baltimore.

He kept it going Friday on a postcard perfect night at PNC Park.

The young phenom was far from perfect. He committed a cardinal sin in the third inning, walking the opposing pitcher, before serving up a two-run homer to Jack Wilson.

Pirates righthander Ian Snell, 24, made that 2-0 lead stand until the seventh inning, when the Twins rallied for three runs.

The big inning included a nine-pitch leadoff walk by Nick Punto, a single by Joe Mauer, a run-scoring double by Michael Cuddyer, a sacrifice fly by Justin Morneau and a run-scoring single by Torii Hunter.

This was also when Twins manager Ron Gardenhire showed just how much trust this team has in Liriano.

The rookie was standing in the on-deck circle when No. 8 hitter Jason Bartlett made the inning's final out. Gardenhire said there was no way Liriano was coming out for a pinch hitter if Bartlett had reached base.

"That's not easy to do," Gardenhire said. "But he gives you so much confidence as a manager because of the way he attacks hitters. You want to just leave him out there as long as you can."

Liriano had thrown 89 pitches through six innings, and he went to the mound for the seventh with a 3-2 lead.

With two outs, Pirates catcher Ronny Paulino singled, putting runners at first and second, bringing pinch hitter Joe Randa to the plate, and forcing Gardenhire to make another tough decision: Stick with a tiring Liriano or turn to a reliever.

Again, Gardenhire stuck with Liriano, and on his 101st and final pitch of the night, he got Randa to wave at a vicious slider for his 11th strikeout.

"I'm not really surprised," Liriano said of his immediate success. "I feel comfortable out there. I just want to get better."

Juan Rincon retired the side in the eighth inning, and after the Twins added an insurance run, Joe Nathan worked a perfect ninth for the save.

But afterward, Liriano was the focus.

"The bottom line is he's just got great stuff," Gardenhire said. "It's fun to watch. It's really fun to watch."