The Twins have placed lefthander Dennys Reyes (sore elbow) on the 15-day disabled list to make room for the arrival of Chris Heintz.

Reyes’ elbow has been sore for about a week. This means that Carmen Cali is the only lefty in the bullpen with Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore and the Cuyahoga Clubbers around the bend…

O.K. finally back. I also crafted a long update only to watch the internet crash when I hit. `publish.’ So here’s another attempt:

Reyes is at the airport and is headed to the Twin Cities to have a MRI exam on his elbow.

Mauer is still very sore after last night - not surprising because he pulled his hammy less than 12 hours ago. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back, but there’s no discoloration in the leg, so that’s a good sign.

Kevin Slowey will be called up to pitch the second game of the doubleheader on Friday against the Royals.

Some Twins have good numbers off of Bedard: Hunter, .467, 2 homers; Morneau, .571, 2 homers; Punto, .364; Rondell, 4 for 10.

Gardy took Tyner over Kubel for left field. I would have taken Kubel but the coaching staff voted for Tyner because they think he’s locked in right now.

Chris Heintz has arrived.

Look at Baltimore’s bottom three hitters. And Aubry Huff is playing third! Bunt! Bunt! Bunt! 

Lineups

Twins: 1. Casilla, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Hunter, CF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Cuddy, RF. 6. Redmond, C. 7. White, DH. 8. Tyner, LF. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Baker.

O’s: 1. Roberts, 2B. 2. Patterson, CF. 3. Tejada, DH. 4. Markakis, RF. 5. Millar, 1B. 6. Huff, 3B. 7. Bynum, SS. 8. Bako, C. 9. Redman, LF. Pitching: Bedard.

Looks like Joe Mauer has a strained left hamstring that will knock him out for a couple of games. He probably was going to get Sunday off anyway, but the Twins will monitor their catcher and plot a course of action over the next two days.

True, Mauer isn’t hitting for power. True, he’s not driving in a lot of runs. But he takes good at-bats. Even if he takes more pitches than people care for, he works counts, draws walks and gets on base. The Twins need all the able hitters they can as they try to get back in the race.

By now you’ve read my story about Torii Hunter rejecting an advance from the Twins to negotiate a new contract. Both Hunter and his agent, Larry Reynolds, denied a report that he turned down a four-year, $56 million offer. Terry Ryan, as usual, declined to comment.

While that may be true, I’m convinced that the Twins talked to Hunter about something.  The exact number just hasn’t been discovered yet. This dance is not over. I think Hunter and his agent are trying to get the Twins to step up. I think the Twins will approach Hunter again. On the open market, Hunter could fetch more than $14 million per, and the Twins need to address this issue because they could wind up being regarded as just another team when free agency comes.

I also feel that Torii should be reasonable here, too. He’s been with the organization throughout his career. He likes the area. Most importantly, he knows former Twins (Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins and Jacque Jones) who have discovered that the grass wasn’t greener over the other side of the fence. While he’s hinted that he would take a discount to stay, he’s never said what that discount is. Now may be the time.

This is a negotiation, folks. And instead of getting mad, sometimes we have to let the millionaires fight.

Hunter sat back during the offseason and spring training when the Twins talked big about signing Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Nathan to multi-year deals. He sat back and watched as the Twins batted .250 in their quest - locking up only Mauer - and now have the looming 2008 free agency of Johan Santana to deal with.

Even if some of you think Hunter is greedy, you have to admit he’s got the Twins over a barrel. The offense needs him. He’s playing the best ball of his career. Denard Span isn’t the answer and the Twins are not big spenders in free agency, so finding a replacement that way would seem realistic.

So have fun with this one, folks. It’s going to get crazy.

[11:10 UPDATE] Folks, the Twins just announced that Mauer has as left hammy strain, and it may be a little serious. We all thought it was his left ankle, but replays showed that he was favoring the hamstring.

Stop back here in about 45 minutes for more info. The Twins game just ended. 

[10:43 UPDATE:] Joe Mauer appeared to have aggravated his sore left ankle as he stepped on second base while advancing from first to third on Torii Hunter’s double in the eighth inning. Mauer came out after a few moments.

We’ll know more after the game, but I don’t expect him to play tommorrow because it’s day game after night game, sore ankle and Erik Bedard. 

[7:50 UPDATE:] First pitch will be at 8:05. It’s Matt Garza vs. Radhames Liz! 

[7:18 UPDATE] The rain has let up. A few Twins players have headed to the cages to get some swings in. Opps, there’s a flash of lightning…but there’s signs of life. 

[UPDATE:] It’s coming down and the Orioles have asked fans to head for cover because of massive lightning in the area. Stay tuned, and we’ll update here when the rain stops. 

Baltimore is sweltering. I went for a walk at 10:00 a.m. and came back drenched. I took the 20 minute walk to the ballpark this afternoon and was a human water sprinkler by the time I got to the park.

The temperature is listed as 92 but, officially, the humidity is making it feel like 105.

Johan Santana said after last night’s game that he went through two uniforms and four t-shirts during his outing.

Orioles great (and one of my mother’s all-time favorite players) Jim Palmer greeted Gardy today with a, “I’m sweating!”

Gardy replied: “I’m sweating just thinking about sweating!”

This would have been a day for the Dome…or a shower in the outfield.

Scott Baker’s wife, Leann, gave birth to a 6 pound, 9 ounce spot-hitting righthander named Easton Timothy Baker. Pops will fly back today and make his start tomorrow.

Gardy’s ever-changing lineup has Alexi Casilla on the bench, Brian Buscher at third, LNP at second and the Kubix as the DH.

Mike Remond and Rondell White will start tomorrow against Erik Bedard. If the Twins can get this game tonight….

Lineups

Twins: 1. Tyner, LF. 2. Bart, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. T-Nutts, CF. 5. Mourny, 1B. 6. Cuddy, RF. 7. Kubix, DH. 8. Buscher, 3B. 9. LNP, 2B. Pitching: Garza.

Orioles: 1. Roberts, 2B. 2. Jaque Jones lite, CF. 3. Markakis, RF. 4. Tejada, SS. 5. Millar, 1B. 6. Huff, DH. 7. Mora, 3B. 8. Hernandez, C. 9. Payton, LF. Pitching: Radhames Liz (MLB debut).

Twins righthander Scott Baker is scheduled to face Baltimore on Sunday but flew to the Twin Cities this afternoon because his wife, Leann, has gone into labor. If Baker doesn’t return in time for his start, look for the Twins to call up righthander Kevin Slowey from Class AAA Rochester for the emergency start.

Slowey is 9-4 with a league-leading 1.73 ERA at Rochester.

The Twins are checking with the league to see if Baker can be placed on bereavement leave so they could just call Slowey up without a corresponding move. There’s word that, a few years ago, a team used the bereavement list for player whose wife had twins. In that case, there was some risk involved with the pregnancy. It’s unclear if this is a similar situation, but Baker did have to rush his wife to the hospital recently for a pregnancy-related issue. Hope everything turns out well for the Bakers. Scott is a bright guy and pleasant to be around.

Yes, Nick Punto, coming off a two-hit night, is back in the lineup tonight. But Gardy wants to have strong defense at third with the lefty Santana on the mound. How many balls will Punto have hit to him if Santana is sizzling again?

Lineups

 Twins: 1. Casilla, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Hunter, CF. 5. Morneau, 1B. 6. Cuddyer, RF. 7. Kubel, DH. 8. Tyner, LF. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Santana.

Orioles: 1. Roberts, 2B. 2. Patterson, CF. 3. Tejada, SS. 4. Millar, 1B. 5. Markakis, RF. 6. Mora, 3B. 7. Huff, DH. 8. Hernandez, C. 9. Payton, LF. Pitching: Guthrie.

Such is the case for Tommy Watkins, who has landed on the 15-day DL with an abdominal strain. Watkins was 10 for 28 (.357) since being called up. He was centering balls and didn’t look overmatched at the plate. But the Twins can’t catch a break.

Third baseman Brian Buscher has activated from the DL and is expected to arrive at the park about the second inning.

So guess who is playing third today?

Torii Hunter’s sore shoulder is fine.

The reason Rondell White hasn’t played much lately was because of a sore left knee. He took a cortisone shot a couple days ago and now is available.

Jason Bartlett is in the lineup as the No. 2 hitter, and Gardy basically moved everyone down a spot after that.

Joe Mauer’s left ankle is better, and he’s in the lineup.

Dennys Reyes, who has a sore elbow after banging it in the bullpen, said he should be good to go by tomorrow.

Twins: 1. Casilla, 2B. 2. Bartlett, SS. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Hunter, CF. 5. Morneau, 1B. 6. Cuddyer, RF. 7. Kubel, LF. 8. Jones, DH. 9. Punto, 3B. Pitching: Boof.

Orioles: 1. Roberts, 2B. 2. Patterson, CF. 3. Markakis, RF. 4. Tejada, SS. 5. Millar, 1B. 6. Huff, DH. 7. Mora, 3B. 8. Hernandez, C. 9. Bymun, LF. Pitching: Steve Traschel.