Chicago, IL

The Chicago White Sox acquired left-handed starter Francisco Liriano from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for utility infielder Eduardo Escobar and Minor League southpaw Pedro Hernandez.

Liriano, 28, has a 3-10 record and 5.31 ERA with 109 strikeouts over 100 innings in 22 games and 17 starts this season, including the seven runs he allowed to the White Sox on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings Monday.

"Everybody has been here long enough where we've seen everything [from Liriano]," said White Sox captain Paul Konerko. "You've seen him pitch well, you've seen him throw a no-hitter.

"We have the guru of pitching, Don Cooper, that I'm sure will put his stamp on him," Konerko said. "We have good pitching. He doesn't need to come in and throw shutouts. We are swinging the bats pretty well and just come in and give us a chance to win."

Liriano will join the White Sox rotation that includes Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, Gavin Floyd, Jose Quintana and Philip Humber, who hurled six strong innings during a 5-2 victory over the Rangers Saturday night.

Cooper said a six-man rotation could be put into place to reduce the workload for a first-year starter like Sale and a rookie like Quintana.

"That's a possibility. Certainly a possibility," Cooper said. "We have days off. It's all a possibility and we haven't gotten there yet. Right now we're going to have to do something to clear a spot. We'll figure it out."

"He's somebody that's been good," said Ventura of Liriano. "That's part of Kenny trying to find something to push us over the top."

The trade also ended Liriano's roller-coaster stint with the Twins. "It was a struggle, then he was great. He's capable, as we all know," Ryan said. "He's capable of being quite good when he pitches ahead, throws the ball over the plate. It's as simple as that."

Minnesota general manager Terry Ryan sent Escobar to Triple-A Rochester because he needs regular at-bats.

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