There's no debating the most important thing from Wednesday night's action in the American League pennant race. The Oakland A's beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0, but the Twinkies lost a lot more than just a game -- Francisco Liriano lasted just two innings before feeling pain in his left elbow, bringing his season to an end.
As recently as July, Liriano was making American League hitters look like high schoolers, dominating as few rookies have in recent memory. Joining Rafael Santana to form the most formidable twosome since Schilling and Johnson, Liriano helped pull the Twins back into the pennant race midway through the summer and seemed to be headed towards a Rookie of the Year and Cy Young season.
With these two aces, the Twins stalked the Tigers, White Sox, and Red Sox, and the playoffs were suddenly a real possibility. And if Minnesota could somehow get to October, the prospect of facing Santana and Liriano -- the two best lefties in baseball -- in the first two games of a five-game series would be enough to steal sleep from even the most confident A.L. manager.
Now, however, everything changes. The Twins have a solid team with MVP candidates Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and they still might squeak into the postseason by either winning their division or holding on to their wild card lead, but once they get there, they'll no longer be the favorites that they might have been. They'll just be one of three teams chasing the Yankees.
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