Liriano bests M’s Hernandez

MINNEAPOLIS – The future of starting pitching was on display in Friday night’s showdown between Francisco Liriano and Felix Hernandez, and it was filled with 97 mph fastballs, unhittable sliders and knee-buckling changeups.

Liriano outdueled fellow young gun Hernandez, and Joe Mauer homered to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

“That’s two future Cy Young winners right there,” Twins designated hitter Rondell White said. “They both have electrifying stuff.”

The 22-year-old Liriano (3-0) pitched five scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing four hits.

Hernandez (3-6) has struggled much of this season after a sensational debut as a 19-year-old in 2005, but looked sharp for most of the night.

After Mauer turned Hernandez’s 95 mph fastball into a 427-foot homer to left-center that made it 3-0 in the third, the young Venezuelan buckled down in impressive fashion.

He retired the next 14 batters. He gave up three runs and five hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

Liriano got into some serious trouble in the fifth, allowing singles to Adrian Beltre and Kenji Johjima and walking Willie Bloomquist to start the inning. He then struck out Yuniesky Betancourt. Ichiro then ripped a line drive to shallow center that had two RBIs written all over it. But Torii Hunter raced in and made a lunging shoestring catch and doubled off Johjima at second base to end the inning.