Santo Domingo.– After striking out 10 batters with no walks over five scoreless innings in the Dominican Winter League championship series on Thursday, Minnesota pitcher Francisco Liriano´s performance gives him some hope he'll return to his pre-Tommy John or even late 2008 form.

He had a 1.20 ERA with a 13:4 K:BB ratio in 15 innings in three starts in postseason play. Liriano may have been the biggest disappointment in fantasy baseball last season as he struggled with a 5.80 ERA. He'll battle Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins for the fifth starter job this spring.

This year's Caribbean Series starts with the Puerto Rico team squaring off against the Dominican Republic in a matinee followed by the opening ceremony and matchup between Venezuela and Mexico on Tuesday night.

Venezuela and the Dominican Republic will meet on Feb. 4, in the third game of the round-robin for each team, and it's going to be a catfight. Venezuela, the reigning Caribbean Series champion, rolled through the 2009 tournament in Mexicali, Mexico, with a 5-1 record.

Last year's team from the Dominican Republic finished in the bottom half of the standings along with Puerto Rico with a 2-4 record. Mexico finished the tourney at 3-3.