Francisco Liriano hurls no-hitter vs. White Sox

There was quite a bit of pressure of Twins starter Francisco Liriano entering last night's start against the White Sox.

Before last night's game, Liriano posted a record of 1-4 with an ERA of 9.13 and 18 walks in 23 2/3 innings pitched and the team had the fewest wins (nine) in all of baseball.

Liriano's spot in the rotation was on the line as manager Ron Gardenhire had said last week, "That's kind of why we're working on [Kevin] Slowey, getting him stretched out, in case we decide after this next start whether we're going to do something or not."

And, boy, did he deliver by throwing the franchise's first no-hitter since 1999 and the fifth in team history.

"I'm pretty excited," Liriano said, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. "I can't explain myself right now. I'm very happy, very excited. I had a rough start to the season, so it's very exciting."

Liriano was helped out by some nice plays in the field and he walked six batters, but his no-no should help restore his confidence, as pitching coach Rick Anderson notes.

"I'm excited as can be about the no-hitter, but I'm even more excited the confidence is there," Anderson said. "I can't wait for the next start. And that's what he needed -- confidence. Hopefully, this is a confidence thing, and it's something we all need to get our strut and our swagger back. I think we all needed that. And that's a big step."

Francisco Liriano may only have one more chance (start) to keep spot in rotation

Things haven't gone well for Twins starter Francisco Liriano (and his fantasy owners) this year.

And depending on how his next scheduled start on Tuesday goes, it could get worse, much worse.

"There's times when he looks totally dominant and he'll go an inning or two like that, but then he just kind of starts misfiring, and I think once we get ahead he just kind of backs away a little bit. So, if it's a confidence thing, then we've got to really work hard to get it there, but if not, we're going to have to make a decision and see where we go from there," manager Ron Gardenhire said, per Tom Pelissero of 1500ESPN.com.

"That's kind of why we're working on [Kevin] Slowey, getting him stretched out, in case we decide after this next start whether we're going to do something or not."

Slowey, who eligible to return from the disabled list, will make one more rehab start to help get him ready to take over Liriano's spot in the rotation, if necessary.

In his five starts, Liriano is 1-4 with an ERA of 9.13 and 18 walks in 23 2/3 innings pitched.

Joe Nathan to miss 2010 season

As expected, Twins closer Joe Nathan will miss the entire 2010 season and have Tommy John surgery in hopes of being back and ready for the 2011 season.

"It didn't go like we hoped," Nathan said [after playing catch today]. "We knew it was a longshot, but I think this will clear my head. There definitely was no gray area. It was definitely on the dark side. We know now that we're going to need to go in and have some surgery done and get this thing taken care of."

Based on the current pitchers on the roster, Jon Rauch is the most likely replacement for Nathan. Rauch has 26 career saves, of which 17 came with the Washington Nationals in 2008.

"He's got all the closing stuff: punchout pitches, the whole package," [manager Ron] Gardenhire said [of Rauch]. "Whether he wants to do that or not or whether it's the right thing to do remains to be seen."

In addition to Rauch and other internal candidates, such as Matt Guerrier and Pat Neshek, the Twins could make a move for San Diego closer Heath Bell.

If so, that would likely move Luke Gregerson into the closer's role and obviously increase his fantasy value.

After the All-Star break, Gregerson had an ERA of 3.13, WHIP of 1.10 and struck out 53 batters in 37.1 innings.