Still at the park. I got here at 7:15 a.m. EST to talk to Gardy but something came up and he asked for 30 minutes. “I’ll give you 45,” I said. I came back at 8 a.m. and found Bill Smith in his office. They decided to cut some players from camp. Luke Hughes, Matt Macri and Luis Matos were soon packing.

But Gardy was in pre-game mode, so my special section interviews had to wait another day.

Been hacking away or doing phone interviews ever since the game ended. Our baseball section should be pretty sweet, based on the work we’re putting into it.

Anyway, Carlos Gomez has a sore back but is expected to play on Friday. Jason Pridie has had a sore shoulder but is well enough to play tomorrow. Those injuries, plus Denard Span needing a day off (he’s already hit the 50 at-bat mark, for goodness sakes) led to Gardy’s decision to use Matt Tolbert in center field.

There was a brisk wind from right to left that definitely helped Tolbert’s homer and probably helped Delmon Young’s homer. But Brendan Harris crushed a ball that hit the Walgreen’s sign that rises over the left field wall. and Morneau hit a laser that just tore through the breeze as it cleared the center field wall.

By the way, Adam Eaton is terrible.

Liriano was just O.K. He said his control wasn’t the best and he needs to work on his change up and sinker. Gardy actually liked the movement on Liriano’s sinker, so go figure.

Guerrier finally had a smooth inning.

Crain gave up a run but seemed to throw O.K.

Breslow tried to make a meal out of the ninth, giving up a single and then walking two batters - some of the pitches looked like strikes to me. But he got out of it with just one run given up. 

Joe C. is headed to Jupiter tomorrow to cover the Twins and Marlins. I’ll be working on more section stuff. Who do you have in the WBC final tonight? Anyone?

I walked through the clubhouse this morning and saw Luke Hughes and Matt Macri packing their bags and shaking hands. That usually means a player has been cut, although we haven’t heard an official announcement yet.

It’s overcast down here with occasional drizzle, but we’re expecting to play. Will add the lineups here when they become available.

I want to address the Wilson Ramos situation. Ramos was impressive in batting practice down here and showed the skills to be a good catcher. But there was no way he had even a slight chance of making the team. Ramos hasn’t seen one pitch in Double-A yet - and it took him a chunk of the season at Class A Fort Myers to get going.

Ramos was struggling in late May when I asked Jim Rantz, the director or minor leagues, what his problem was.

“He’s made a discovery,” Rantz said. “It’s called a curveball.”

Ramos hit two homers the next week - and edged his batting average up to .224. I asked Rantz for an explanation, and he joked that  the best way to solve the curveball, “is to swing at the fastball.”

This spring, I talked to Ramos about his power hitting.

“If I’m waiting for a fastball and he throws a fastball, no problem,” he said.

He’ll be tested at Class AA New Britain. Not only will he see breaking pitches but breaking pitches for strikes. He’ll have to learn how to hit the curveball.

Update: Hughes, Macri and Luis Matos have been cut from camp. Reliever Pat Neshek was supposed to play catch for the first time since surgery on the 18th, but that has been pushed back to Apr. 1. Not a setback, just no reason to rusch Lineup since he’s out until 2010 anyway.

 Lineups

Orioles: 1. Felix Pie, CF. 2. Ryan Freel, LF. 3. Scott Moore, 3B. 4. Oscar Salazar, 1B. 5. Luke Scott, DH. 6.  Luis Montanez, Rf. 7. Robby Hammock, C. 8. Jolbert Cabrera, SS. 9. Donnie Murphy, 2B. Pitching: Guthrie.

Twins: 1. Tolbert, CF. 2. Casilla, 2B. 3. Kubel, DH. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Crede, 3B. 6. Cuddyer, RF. 7. Young, LF. 8. Redmond, C. 9. Punto, SS. Pitching: Franchise, followed by Guerrier, Breslow, Ayala, Crain and Jones.

Jose Mijares was spiked in the ankle during his rocky outing but it’s not expected to be serious.

Matt Tolbert, who leads all Twins players in batting practice swings, finally got going with a 4-for-5 outing.

Denard Span was 1-for-5 with a double, but that double was a topspinner that spun past the first baseman and down the line.

Span, by the way, has been warned by the league about pulling the legs of his pants over his shoes. Another infraction will cost him $1,000. The league is trying to crack down on this. I’ll believe it when Big Papi and Man-Ram conform.

Span claims innocence. He got a pants leg caught under a spike in Baltimore and it stayed wrapped under his shoe the rest of the game. But there was a picture of him from that game, sliding into second. When Gardy read the letter about the league’s crackdown on pants legs to the team on Thursday, it included a USA Today photo of Span from the Baltimore game.

Scott Baker, at least, kept the ball in the park on Sunday. But he still gave up four runs in four innings and needs to find his sharpness before camp breaks. He’s been able to pitch up in the zone in his early career, but he’s got to have his good control to make it work.

“You stick to the program and stick to the plan, and everything will be O.K.” Baker said.

I watched Denard Span work with hitting coach Joe Vavra in the cage this morning. “I hadn’t seen him around here in a few days,” Vavra said.

Vavra is trying to keep Span from opening up too soon as he swings. He’s been lifting his head and opening his shoulders a little too early. Span has great hitter’s hands - very quick through the zone. So it’s important for him to keep his head still, see the ball and trust that his quick hands won’t let him down.

Span had a pretty good sweat going as he emerged from the cage after about 30 minutes. “Did we get better today?” I asked. “I hope so,” he said.

Stay tuned for more Span coverage after the game…..

I went over to talk to Nick Punto for a couple minutes and ended up in a conversation with Brock Peterson, who dresses in the next stall.

“I’m loving every minute of this,” Peterson said of his time in camp.

Peterson, 25, isn’t considered a top prospect. He spent two years at Class A Fort Myers and nearly two seasons at Class AA New Britain before reaching Class AAA Rochester last August.

Peterson, a really good guy, knows it will be quite a moment if he ever reaches the majors. He was drafted in the 49th round out of W.F. West High in Washington State. He had two scholarship offers and probably would have gone to a community college if he didn’t sign with the Twins.

“I was 215 pounds coming out of high school,” he said. “and they told me I was too small to play college baseball.”

Can he get called up this season? It would take a lot of things to happen on the major league level for that to happen. But we’re seeing what happens to the bullpen battle when Boof Bonser is lost with an injury and another, Jose Mijares, doesn’t pitch well.

If Peterson makes it he’ll be the third-lowest Twins pick I’ve covered who has reached the majors. Denny Hocking was a 52nd round pick and Jason Maxwell was a 74th round pick. 

Our part-time columnist knocked one out of the park today while breaking down the roster. Drew Butera has a real shot to make the club. Ramos had NO chance (I’ll go off on that later). Gardy isn’t the only one to think that Kubel could stick as the No. 3 hitter - although that leaves a lot of right-handedness in the lineup after Morneau. I think Gardy is doing the right thing in running Kubel up in the three spot now to get him comfortable there - instead of waiting for the final days of camp to go with his preferred lineups.

Lineups

Jays: 1. Russ Adams, RF. 2. Brad Emaus, 2B. 3. Adam Lind, LF. 4. Jason Lane, CF. 5. Michael Barrett, C. 6. Randy Ruiz, 1B. 7. Scott Campbell, 3B. 8. Kyle Phillips, DH. 9. Justin Jackson, SS. Pitching: Matt Clement.

Twins:  1. Span, CF. 2. Punto, SS. 3. Kubel, DH. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Crede, 3B. 6. Cuddyer, RF. 7. Young, LF. 8. Redmond, C. 9. Tolbert, 2B. Pitching: Scott Baker, plus Nathan, Mijares, Keppel.

Twins GM Bill Smith announced a few minutes ago that every doctor who has been consulted on Joe Mauer’s lower back pain concurs that he has inflammation of the sacroiliac joint - the joint that connects the bottom of the spine to the top of the pelvis.

 “All the doctors have conferred and have spoken together and have given us a treatment program for Joe, which we are going to follow, which hopefully will reduce the inflammation and get him back on the field as soon as we can,” Smith said.

Update: Mauer has pretty much ruled himself out for Opening Day, which has  been speculated about but something no one with the club wanted to address. Mauer admitted that it’s, “frustrating,” that it has taken so long to heal and that he’s been unable to learn why he has soreness there in the first place. Will add quotes later.

When asked if it’s doubtful that he would be ready for Opening Day, he said: “Yeah, I just have to get healthy. I don’t think I’m ready to get out there and play any games. I know it’s getting closer. I really don’t know if I’m going to be there or not.”

Smith said the club had reached out to specialists in the Twin Cities a few weeks ago in addition to sending Mauer to see a highly-regarded specialist in Baltimore. A source with knowledge of Mauer’s case said the specialist is based at Johns Hopkins University.

 What’s still not known is when Mauer will get back on the field (one week? two? more?). While the Twins haven’t been told that Mauer’s condition is a long-term or chronic problem, no one knows how fast the medication will reduce the inflammation. With Opening Day just over two weeks away, the Twins probably will have to look at prospects Drew Butera or Jose Morales to support veteran Mike Redmond at the position until Mauer is ready to play.

“There’s not a timetable right now to say when he is going to be on the field,” Smith said. “This is the right treatment for now. We have to get the inflammation down  before we turn him loose.”

Smith said that a cortisone shot is not under consideration. He would not what, if any, medication Mauer was taking during the consultation process.

What’s known is that Mauer has been working out at the Lee County Sports Complex while doctors conferred. And he’s been able to increase the intensity in recent days.

When asked what Mauer’s mood is, Smith said: “He’s looking forward to get this chapter behind him.