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Francisco Liriano could be back in the Metrodome next month, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire suggested Tuesday, if he keeps showing the progress that has helped him win three consecutive games at Rochester.

"We're not going to force the issue. We'll let him get enough starts down there to where (Minnesota's front office) feels comfortable," Gardenhire said. "Whether it's at the all-star break or right before that, I don't know."

Liriano, sent down to Class AAA in April after three increasingly erratic starts, has pitched well for the Red Wings, with only a couple of subpar starts among his 11 appearances. Liriano has pitched at least six innings in eight consecutive starts, and the past four games have been particularly encouraging.

Liriano, trying to return from elbow replacement surgery in 2006, has given up 18 hits and seven runs in his past 25 2/3 innings, going 3-0 with a 2.45 earned-run average. He has walked six batters in that span and struck out 26.

Still, Gardenhire cautioned, there are "a little different hitters up here, taking more pitches. ... Throwing seven innings down there is like throwing five innings" in the majors.

Gardenhire fined: When baseball's speed-up-the-game efforts cost the Twins an out on Sunday, and potentially endangered one of his players, Gardenhire summed up his feelings by saying, "That's wrong. That's just wrong."

On Tuesday, baseball decided that Gardenhire was wrong.

The Twins' manager was

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fined $1,500 by Major League Baseball "for failure to comply with pace-of-game regulations," the league announced.

Umpire Brian Runge allowed Brewers pitcher Guillermo Mota to pitch while Brendan Harris wasn't looking during Sunday's loss in Milwaukee and called the pitch strike three. An enraged Gardenhire protested and was ejected, then complained after the game that, "It's gonna lead to bad things. It's gonna lead to somebody getting hurt."

Gardenhire would not comment on the discipline on Tuesday. "I can't talk about it," he said. "It's a bad subject."

Cecil Cooper of Houston also was fined for pace-of-game infractions.

Briefly: Nick Punto played eight or nine innings of an intrasquad game with Minnesota minor leaguers Tuesday in Fort Myers, Fla., and plans to test his strained left hamstring by playing three consecutive games this weekend for the Class A Fort Myers Miracle, Gardenhire said. That could have the utility infielder, who is eligible to come off the disabled list on Saturday, back with the Twins next week in San Diego.

  • Matt Tolbert's cast has been removed from his left thumb, and he has been cleared to begin doing range-of-motion exercises, the first step in returning from strained ligaments. "We're still looking at Aug. 1" for a return, Gardenhire said. "He's got a lot of rehab ahead."

  • Carlos Gomez liked playing for Willie Randolph last year with the Mets, so when he heard that the manager had been fired Tuesday, "I said, 'Oh my God, why?' " Gomez said. "He was good to me. I'm not happy. He's good guy, good man. Good manager. He tried to help me."