Francisco Liriano finally got what he wanted. No more Class AAA hitters for him. "The Franchise" is back in Minnesota's starting rotation. The Twins waited until a day after the trade deadline to make their big move, promoting Liriano from Rochester yesterday and cutting ties with right-hander Livan Hernandez and outfielder Craig Monroe.

"It's what I was waiting for," said Liriano, who will start the series finale against Cleveland tomorrow. "I'm so happy to be here."

Liriano missed all of last season with Tommy John surgery and was battered in his first stint up this season in April, going 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA before being sent down.

Liriano dominated for Rochester, going 10-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his previous 11 starts. Yet the Twins stuck with Hernandez and youngsters Glen Perkins, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey.

Liriano's agent asked the players' union to investigate why his client had not been called up.

Hernandez (10-8) won six of his first seven decisions with the Twins, but he went 2-3 with a 6.44 ERA and 42 hits allowed in 29 1-3 innings in July. General manager Bill Smith tried Thursday to trade Hernandez and Monroe but couldn't get a deal done.

Daniel Cabrera has filed an appeal of his six-game suspension for throwing at the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez Tuesday night and remains scheduled to start tomorrow at Seattle. Cabrera and New York's Edwar Ramirez were suspended and fined for intentionally throwing at batters.

Los Angeles made room for recently acquired outfielder Manny Ramirez on the active roster by placing infielder Nomar Garciaparra on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

On the day Kyle Farnsworth joined the bullpen, Detroit found out reliever Todd Jones has tendinitis in his right shoulder. An MRI showed Jones does not have a major injury. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list, expects to get a cortisone shot and plans to hold off throwing until at least next weekend.

Right-hander John Maine will skip his next scheduled start to give more rest to his sore throwing shoulder.

Manager Joe Girardi pretty much ended speculation that injured right-hander Chien-Ming Wang might return in early September. Wang, injured running the bases June 15 in Houston, got the cast off his right foot and is expected to be on crutches with a boot protecting his leg for another week before being re-evaluated.

Veteran umpire Jerry Crawford left a game between the host Braves and Brewers last night with a sore back. It was the third time this season Crawford has been unable to finish a game.