Twins prospect Trevor Plouffe was 2-for-5 with a homer for Team USA in a 9-1 in over Germany in World Cup action yesterday. Heard Germany’s only run scored on his throwing error, though.

Outfield prospect Rene Tosoni went 3-for-5 for Canada during a 15-0 beatdown of the Netherlands.

Update: Pat Neshek has been cleared to throw in the bullpen, fastballs only for now. He was out on the field before the game, playing catch. Saw Joe C.’s note yesterday about Carl Pavano and Jeff Manship being Tommy John surgery alums. Let’s not forget Francisco Liriano and Brian Duensing (in college). There might not be a clubhouse in the majors without at least one player who’s had the surgery.

Kevin Slowey will spend the offseason working out in California, then report to spring training a month early. He said he’s going to start throwing in November as he comes back from wrist surgery  -a surgery that was a little more involved than expected. He has two screws in his wrist which will never come out. He hasn’t lit up any security scans, though. “I’m kind of disappointed in that,” he joked.

We spent part of Gardy’s pre-game talking about screws in wrists. Gardy once had two screws placed near his left thumb that stuck out of the skin. Gardenhire said he could turn them by hand, and he didn’t feel a thing when they were removed.

Some members of the media horde grimaced at that. Not me. I’ve had the retina in my right eye repaired four times. Once you’ve been laid out on a table with three holes poked in your eye -and you’re awake during the surgery - nothing about operations surprises you.

The only thing that worried me was that the surgeon had Pink Floyd playing in the operating room during my last retina surgery in 2006.

Talked to a National League scout before the who agreed that Nick Blackburn needed to pitch inside more last night. To me, it was especially important that he bust some guys inside since he didn’t have a feel for his curveball.

Twins pitchers get away from pitching inside sometimes. I know the pitching coach keeps talking about it. It’s up to the pitcher - or the catcher - to make it happen.

A scout for the Tigers is here, too: “Nobody wants to win this division,”  he grumbled. And I can’t post the word he uttered between, `this,’ and `division.’

Oakland (63-77)

1. Adam Kennedy, 3B
2. Rajai Davis, CF
3. Kurt Suzuki, C
4. Jack Cust, DH
5. Scott Hairston, LF
6. Mark Ellis, 2B
7. Daric Barton, 1B
8. Eric Patterson, RF
9. Cliff Pennigton, SS

Pitching: Brett Anderson, LHP

Twins (70-71)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer. DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, LF
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Brendan Harris, 3B
8. Mike Redmond, C
9. Nick Punto, 2B

Pitching: Jeff Manship

Not much going on before the game. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire’s pre-game presser dealt with Morneau snapping out of his slump, Joe Crede getting a DH day vs Oakland, Carl Pavano getting on the same page with catcher Jose Morales and Denard Span’s value to the team.

I tried to blog about Pavano after the game but my computer crashed and I gave up. It was Morales’ first time catching Pavano, and the two took a while to get going yesterday.

“We battled each other a little bit,” Pavano said,“but that’s part of getting to know each other, the catcher-pitcher relationship.”

Span’s value is obvious. He played all three outfield positions last night for the first time in his career, and no one on the team can lead off like him. It’s a good thing Gardy had Span work out all over the outfield during spring training.

By the way, the Baseball World Cup is underway - yes, such a thing exists. Australia, with Luke Hughes and James Beresford in the lineup, waxed the Czech Republic in Prague in the opener yesterday.

The Twins lead all organizations with 10 players in the tournament. You can keep up with it here. Trevor Plouffe and Team USA play tonight against Venezuela.

Lineups

Twins (70-69)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Brendan Harris, 3B
9. Nick Punto, 2B

Pitching: Scott, Baker, RHP

Toronto (62-77)

1. Joe Inglett, 2B
2. Travis Snider, RF
3. Adam Lind, LF
4. Lyle Overbay, 1B
5. Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
6. Randy Ruiz, DH
7. Jose Bautista, CF
8. Raul Chavez, C
9. John McDonald, SS

Pitching: Brett Cecil, LHP

Roy Halladay is 8-0 in his career against the Twins. The only Twin who has had any success against him is Delmon Young, who is 6-for-14. So he’s in the lineup.

Michael Cuddyer is getting break tonight, so Jason Kubel is really in right field this time.

Lefthander Francisco Liriano has been activated from the 15-day disabled list and reinstated. He will work out of the bullpen, where manager Ron Gardenhire hopes he can end the year on a positive note and go into the offseason knowing he’s healthy and just ran out of gas in August.

Joe Crede told Gardy that he’s not ready to start yet, so he’ll be available off the bench for a couple games.

BTW, Saturday’s game against Oakland at noon. The Twins contacted the Gophers in April and assured them there would be no conflicts for the opening of  TCF Stadium. So when the Gophs firmed up their kickoff time, the Twins pushed their first pitch up an hour.

Lineups

Twins (69-69)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer, DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, RF
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. Brian Buscher, 3B
8. Jose Morales, C
9. Nick Punto, 2B

Pitching: Carl Pavano

Toronto (62-76)

1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Jose Bautista, RF
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Lyle Overbay, 1B
5. Vernon Wells, CF
6. Rod Barajas, C
7. Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
8. Travis Snider, LF
9. John McDonald, 2B

Pitching: Roy Halladay

This just in: The Twins have traded lefthander Sean Henn to Baltimore for a player to be named later or cash. 

Joe Mauer, who was 3-for-5 yesterday, is not in today’s starting lineup. The clubhouse just opened, so check back later after we find out way. The only thing I can come up with now is that manager Ron Gardenhire said during the last homestand that Mauer definitely was going to get a day off.

So I’m guessing he decided to rest Mauer today with lefty Ricky Romero on the mound. Mauer will face Roy Halladay on Wednesday and probably DH vs Brett Cecil during the day game on Thursday. I’m sure he’s available to pinch hit, but we’ll see what’s going on in a few minutes. Check twitter for a quick update from the clubhouse.

Mike Redmond is catching tonight with Michael Cuddyer at DH and Jason Kubel in right.

Update: Yep, Gardy determined that this was the day Mauer would get off. Mauer said he was told by the manager that he wouldn’t start today and didn’t try to talk him out of it. Mauer is available to pinch hit tonight and, because of off days in each of the next two weeks, Gardy hopes that this is the last game Mauer won’t start this season.

Mauer will DH tomorrow’s game against Roy Halladay and the Jays. with Jose Morales getting the start behind the plate.

Update 2: Joe Crede has been activated from the disabled list and is available tonight. He’ll probably start tomorrow.

Francisco Liriano threw a 42-pitch simulated game to Crede and others and felt great. He’ll probably be activated tomorrow and will work out of the bullpen.

Update 3: Justin Huber and Armando Gabino have reported for duty.

Update 4: Just to make sure you were aware, Saturday’s game is a 12:10 p.m. start so the Twins won’t interfere with the build up to the Gopher’s opener at TCF Stadium.

Update 5: There was a mistake on the original lineup, Cuddyer is in right field and Kubel is the DH.

Update 6: Carol Gardenhire, Ron’s wife, is on the trip as they celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary today.

Twins (69-68)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. O-Cab, SS
3. Jason Kubel, DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Cuddy, RF
6. Brendan Harris, 3B
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Mike Redmond, C
9. Nick Punto, 2B

Pitching: Brian Duensing, LHP

The locals here tell me the weather has been rather crummy this summer, but not last few days.

People have left their umbrellas at home and have been out to play. Things were bustling when I checked into the hotel at 11-ish last night. The Killers were in concert last night and post-concert partying was in full force.

When I left the hotel this morning to walk to the park, I couldn’t help but chuckle at all the red-eyed souls lined up at the front desk to check out.

The way Twins manager Ron Gardenhire talked, his hitters have looked a little worn out lately. Especially yesterday in a big loss to Cleveland.

“Some slow poles out there,” he said.

So Brian Buscher is starting at third, Nick Punto at short and Delmon Young is in left. Will it work. Will it matter? They need the Tigers to cool off and they need their bats to get going before they can prove everyone wrong. They also have to prove they can win a game here, where they are 1-9 over their last 10 game.

The Twins are taking batting practice before the game, one reason is so they can figure out how the ball plays off the bat here. There are a lot of visible seams in the turf and, as someone with the team told me, the field is like an old basketball floor; you have to figure where the soft spots are.

Joe Crede is taking b.p. and fielding grounders at third. Everything appears to be set for Crede to face Francisco Liriano tomorrow in a simulated game. Good, it’s time for Crede to get back on the field instead of telling me how great Blaine Gabbert is.

Lineups

Twins (68-68)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Nick Punto, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Brian Buscher, 3B
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Pitching: Jeff Manship, RHP

Toronto (61-75)

1.  Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Lyle Overbay, 1B
5. Vernon Wells, CF
6. Rod Barajas, C
7. Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
8. Travis Snider, LF
9. Joe Inglett, RF