"Francisco Liriano wasn't any more sore than usual after throwing 123 pitches in his no-hitter Tuesday night, but he didn't arrive at U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday feeling well rested.

The left-hander was up into the early hours of Wednesday, first responding to the approximately 55 text messages that poured in after he held the White Sox hitless in a 1-0 Twins win, then talking on the phone to his parents and his six brothers and three sisters, not to mention several friends and cousins.

Liriano's family watched the ballgame, as they do most if not all of his starts, back home in the Dominican Republic. Liriano fielded calls and texts until about 4 a.m. He could have just as well kept talking and texting because once he finally tried to fall asleep, his mind refused to cooperate.

"I didn't sleep at all," he said. "Just thinking a lot of stuff, everything, thinking about the whole game, how the game went, thinking about a lot of stuff."

By Wednesday morning, Liriano said he was shifting his focus to his next start.

When that will come, however, was up in the air. If the Twins stay on track, Liriano would start Monday in Boston in an ESPN game against right-hander Josh Beckett. But today's day off allows the Twins the option to give Liriano extra time to recover from his 123-pitch outing. If Liriano starts Monday, he would already be throwing on one extra day of rest. Manager Ron Gardenhire said the team might opt to start Nick Blackburn or even Kevin Slowey, scheduled to be activated from the disabled list Saturday, instead on Monday night.

"That's a lot of pitches and a lot of effort, and he said he was out of gas at the end of that thing," Gardenhire said of Liriano's no-hitter. "We have that ability to (push him back). Whether we will or not, we're going to talk about it."

Liriano said he expects he'll be ready to pitch Monday, saying he felt nothing more than "usual soreness" Wednesday morning. He also said he'd be fine with pitching Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers at Target Field. Whenever he takes the mound next, he will carry with him renewed confidence, and that has pitching coach Rick Anderson eager to see what's next.

"I'm excited as can be about the no-hitter, but I'm even more excited the confidence is there," Anderson said. "I can't wait for the next start."

Tuesday, Liriano threw only four two-seam fastballs. The decision to limit the use of that pitch came after a conversation between Anderson and Liriano, during which Liriano expressed a lack of confidence in his sinker. The Twins have been urging Liriano to pitch to contact, and a sinker is a pitch that typically induces ground balls. But Anderson told Liriano that if he didn't feel comfortable throwing the pitch, he simply shouldn't. "