MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Johan Santana is one of baseball's best pitchers. Minnesota's other left-handed starter might soon be even better.
Francisco Liriano, who at age 22 is nearly five years younger than his major league mentor, has emerged as not only a strong candidate for AL Rookie of the Year, but also for the All-Star team and maybe even the Cy Young Award that Santana won in 2004.
The Los Angeles Dodgers learned that this week, when they lost to both Liriano and Santana in less than 20 hours and watched the surging Twins complete a three-game sweep.
``Where do you want to start?'' said Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe, who started opposite Liriano and compared the young Dominican to former Boston Red Sox teammate and three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez. ``Liriano is very similar as far as velocity, throwing any pitch at any time. When you have that kind of stuff, it's easy to be as poised as he is.''
Summoned from the bullpen in mid-May, Liriano has boosted a rotation that was in ruins six weeks ago and formed an incredibly successful battery with 23-year-old catcher Joe Mauer, who leads the majors in hitting with a .392 average.
In 20 appearances, including eight starts, Liriano is 8-1 with a 2.21 ERA, 82 strikeouts and a .212 opponent batting average in 73 1-3 innings.
Santana, 9-4 with a 2.59 ERA and a major league-leading 124 strikeouts, has been his usual outstanding self. But he's been overshadowed by Liriano, Mauer and a handful of others in their early 20s who have helped Minnesota win 17 of its last 19 games.
``He knows how to take care of himself out there, so it's good to see,'' Santana said. ``That's something we need. It's not just him. Everyone's working pretty good right now.''
Reserve Mike Redmond was a catcher for Florida in 2003, when Dontrelle Willis was called up from the minors in May and helped rally the upstart Marlins to a wild-card spot and a World Series title. Willis went 9-1 before the All-Star break that year and was the NL Rookie of the Year.
``He's basically doing the same thing,'' Redmond said. ``I think he was a spark for our pitching staff and for our team. You see a guy that's so young go out there and pitch well and win, it makes those other guys around him say, 'Hey, look what this kid's doing. I've got to step it up here.'''
An outfielder when he signed with San Francisco before turning 17, Liriano moved to the mound in 2001 but was often injured and considered very raw.
Acquired by Minnesota after the 2003 season, Liriano was a throw-in with pitchers Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser in the lopsided deal for catcher A.J. Pierzynski - who spent one tumultuous year with the Giants. Nathan is a two-time All-Star closer, Bonser is the fifth starter and the Twins are reaping significant rewards from one of their best trades ever.
Last season with Triple-A Rochester, Liriano worked with pitching coach Bobby Cuellar, who once assisted Santana with his baffling changeup and is now the bullpen coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
``He opened my eyes to see what I am right now. I appreciate what he did for me,'' Liriano said.
He currently has one of the hardest, nastiest sliders in the game - and refined mechanics and supreme confidence to go with it.
``It's a good thing,'' Liriano said, laughing shyly about his almost-unhittable pitch that frequently reaches speeds in the low 90s.
Though he's able to speak English more clearly and far more comfortable in the clubhouse than two years ago when he first joined the organization, Liriano has a be-seen-and-not-heard style.
``I don't think he's one of these flamboyant guys. You don't even know he's around, until you see him take the mound. Then you know he's around,'' manager Ron Gardenhire said.
The organization has been most pleased, however, by the way Liriano made himself accountable for a drunken driving charge in Florida during the last week of spring training.
``I'm not going to do it again. I wish I could take it back, but it happened,'' he said, looking down at his feet at the huge pile of fan mail he spends each afternoon answering.
The Twins (42-35) might pitch in to help with all those autograph requests, considering Liriano's role in their resurgence. There is much more to be done, though, with the Detroit Tigers 11 games ahead in the AL Central standings and the Chicago White Sox still 8 1/2 games up in the wild-card race.
``We're not seeming to make any ground right now, but we can't control that,'' Redmond said. ``All we can do is keep this run as long as we can. And man, this is fun.''
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