Francisco Liriano took the hill in a Twins uniform for the first time in well over a year. The outing was in no way spectacular, and Liriano did struggle at times. But overall, win or lose, it was a good sign for both Liriano and the team's future.

Liriano's final line was 4.2 innings, six hits, five walks, four runs and four strikeouts. The outing gives him a poor ERA and obviously doesn't make it look like a good start for Franchise, but fans willing to take a look past statistics, will see that that isn't entirely true.

First off, you must take several factors in consideration. It was cold. Liriano for the most part has pitched in warm weather for the past fifteen plus months. In fact, all but one of his starts came in Florida. Secondly, this was Liriano's first start in well over a year. You all know about pitchers needing to get the jitters out in their first start each season, imagine getting the jitters out in a first start after missing the previous season.

The main low points for Liriano overall were his inability to get the first pitch across for a strike, and his control as a whole. The five walks and lack of first pitch strikes is something that can easily change. As time goes on and Liriano gets back into game rhythm, that will change. His slider, fastball and changeup looked very good, and at times reminded us of his 2006 season. That is a very good sign since it's something that doesn't come back as much with time as does the control.

It was cold, the Royals scored some runs rather cheaply (bunts, wind aided hits, etc.) and for his first time out, Liriano did leave some things for fans to look forward to.

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