Toronto @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 8, 2010 ) Minnesota 1, Toronto 8

The Minnesota Twins have been a playoff team for several days now, but only started looking like one again Wednesday night.

Francisco Liriano hopes to continue the turnaround Thursday as he leads the Twins into a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays in the regular-season finale for both teams. Toronto has won three of five meetings between the teams this season, including two of three the last time they met in early July.

The Twins have had the American League Central title wrapped up for a while, but their recent stretch of play made them look more like cellar dwellers than division champions. Minnesota surrendered 46 runs during a five-game losing streak, allowing 10 or more runs in four of those games as their entire pitching staff took an ill-timed beating.

Minnesota finally ended the drought Wednesday, gutting out a 4-2 win against the Kansas City Royals. Scott Baker and a trio of relievers kept the Royals at bay while Delmon Young did his part with his 20th home run of the season and an RBI single.

Liriano (14-9) will look to keep the good times going. He wasn't immune to Minnesota's recent woes, though his most recent outing was shortened due to illness rather than ineffectiveness. He allowed two runs on four hits over three innings before departing, and the Twins went on to lose 10-1 to the Detroit Tigers.

Liriano is expected to be one of the keys to Minnesota's playoff rotation. The 27-year-old left-hander has lost his past two starts following an eight-game winning streak, but the Twins aren't too concerned about their ace heading into the post-season.

Liriano is 0-1 lifetime against Toronto, but he does have a 1.13 ERA over eight career innings. His only start against the Jays came April 16, 2009, when he surrendered two runs over six innings of a 9-2 loss.

The Blue Jays wrapped up their home schedule Wednesday night with an 8-4 victory, securing their fourth winning season in the past five years. Travis Snider's first-inning solo home run gave the 2010 Jays the all-time franchise record for home runs in a season, and Aaron Hill and John Buck also went deep to add to the total.

Toronto sends Shawn Hill (1-2) to the hill in Thursday's series opener. Hill has looked solid in three starts since returning from ligament replacement surgery, and earned the victory his last time out with five shutout innings against the Seattle Mariners.

Hill has faced the Twins just once in his career, allowing seven runs on 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings.