Liriano, Nathan look good in Twins' victory

Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan combined to give the Minnesota Twins a double dose of good news Sunday.

Liriano struck out five in four perfect innings and Nathan retired all three batters he faced in the Twins' 2-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Liriano opened the spring with a shaky start against the New York Yankees, allowing three runs — two earned — and four hits over two innings. But he followed with three scoreless innings against Pittsburgh and dominated against Baltimore.

"Each time, it gets better," said Liriano, who combined with five relievers for a one-hitter. "All my pitches were working today."

Liriano was followed by Nathan, who withdrew from the World Baseball Classic with a sore shoulder. Nathan, who hadn't pitched since Feb. 25 and rarely takes the mound in spring road games, threw a perfect fifth inning.

"No discomfort at all," Nathan said in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "More important — I didn't think about it all."

While Liriano and Nathan gave the Twins two reasons to be hopeful for the upcoming season, A.J. Burnett provided a bright spot on an otherwise difficult day for the New York Yankees.

Burnett threw two scoreless innings in his spring debut, leading New York to a 12-3 win over the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla.

"It was nice to get out there and face some hitters," Burnett said.

Burnett's sharp outing came on the same day New York announced Alex Rodriguez will have arthroscopic hip surgery Monday and is expected to miss six to nine weeks. The slugger will need another, more extensive operation after the season.

At Tucson, Ariz., Todd Helton played in his first spring game following offseason back surgery and hit a 450-foot, two-run homer in the first inning of the Colorado Rockies' 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

"It's just one at-bat," Helton said. "Don't get me wrong, it is a lot better than a groundout to second base."

In other news:

_Milwaukee released reliever Eric Gagne, who will rehab his sore shoulder in Tempe, Ariz., at a private facility. Gagne was in Brewers camp on a minor league contract.

_Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein declined comment when asked about areport that left-hander Jon Lester had agreed to a $30 million, five-year extension.

Marlins 9, Cardinals 8

At Jupiter, Fla., the Marlins scored five unearned runs off six errors by St. Louis, and Ricky Nolasco breezed through four innings.

At Surprise, Ariz., Yovani Gallardo failed to get out of the first inning, retiring only two of his 10 batters against Kansas City. He allowed seven runs — five earned — and four hits with three walks.







Kasahara