"Francisco Liriano has what it takes to be the Twins staff ace: a nasty slider and a fastball clocked in the mid-90s. He is being treated like an ace, too, getting the ball Wednesday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the defending world champion New York Yankees.

Liriano turned his career around this season, going 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 191 2/3 innings. His devastating slider is back after Tommy John surgery in 2006 made everyone wonder if he would be the same again. He's evolving from a thrower into a pitcher and is being rewarded with his first career postseason start.

But there's supposed to be another element in the arsenal of a No. 1 starter -- poise. And that's something that Liriano has yet to prove that he has on the big stage.

Liriano has had trouble maintaining his poise at times this season, leading to laborious innings and calls to the bullpen. It's during those moments when he will revert to throwing slider after slider, rather than mixing up his pitches.

"Sometimes I try to do things and I get too excited sometimes," Liriano said.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer said he will be ready to go to the mound at the first sign of trouble.

"Everyone is going to be excited on Wednesday," Mauer said, "but he will be fine. He gets excitable. When he keeps his emotions in check he's pretty tough to beat. We'll all have a close eye on that."

In a key game against the White Sox on Sept. 14, Mauer nearly wore out a path to the mound at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field trying to settle Liriano down, enough that fans began booing lustily as the visits increased. Plate umpire Bryan O'Nora began giving Mauer less time for talks, walking out to the mound after a few seconds to speed the visits up."