Mauer won't be back Friday

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Joe Mauer is still feeling sore, did very little work today because of that soreness and will not be ready for activation for Friday's game in Oakland.

Luis Castillo was also feeling pretty sore today, so you'll see Nick Punto at second base and Jeff Cirillo at third. Jason Tyner gets DH duties today. Mike Redmond's elbow is fine, and he said he could play this afternoon, but Heintz is stepping in instead.

And now that I've given it all away, here are the lineups ..

Minnesota
Jason Tyner DH
Nick Punto 2B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Jason Kubel LF
Jeff Cirillo 3B
Chris Heintz C
Jason Bartlett SS
Scott Baker P

Chicago
Darin Erstad CF
Tadahito Ighuchi 2B
Jim Thome DH
Jermaine Dye RF
Paul Konerko 1B
Rob Mackowiak LF
Joe Crede 3B
Alex Cintron SS
Toby Hall C
Jon Garland P

Slowey called up, will start Friday

The Twins have called up right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey from Class AAA Rochester. Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn announced the move after the team's 7-6 win over Richmond on Tuesday night.

Slowey, ranked the Twins No. 3 prospect by Baseball America, will leave for Minnesota Wednesday afternoon and make his major league debut on Friday, starting for the Twins in Oakland.

For Rochester, Slowey went 6-2 with an International League best 1.54 earned run average. He struck out 57 batters, walked only five and held opposing hitters to a .200 average.

Gibson out with "medical condition"

Twins media guru Mike Herman just told reporters that Greg Gibson is absent because of a medical condition, according to Major League Baseball. Gibson likely won't return for tomorrow's game either. MLB told Herman that Gibson's absence has "nothing" to do with Monday's incident.

Hmm ... interpret that as you like.

Umpire Gibson gone

Umpire Greg Gibson, who was at first base for Monday's game and was the target of Ron Gardenhire's tirade, is not with the umpire crew tonight. No word yet on why Gibson was gone.

Yesterday when the Twins dugout was yelling toward first base and at A.J. Pierzynski after Justin Morneau said Pierzynski stepped on the first baseman's foot, Gibson looked over to Minnesota's dugout and delivered a throat-slashing motion. That incensed Gardenhire, who said the motion "got the Oklahoma up in me."

Check back for an update on Gibson's absence.

The spike: Day two

I listened in on Ozzie Guillen's pre-game talk today. The White Sox manager said he doesn't think A.J. Pierzynski intentionally stepped on Justin Morneau's foot yesterday. He did say, however, that he sent the Twins a message afterward - if there is a problem, take care of it on the field.

Certainly sounds tough, but it Guillen went on to say there are two ways to handle that type of situation: forget about it, or fight, and Morneau, obviously, did the latter. He also mentioned that he didn't really like the way Minnesota's bench was yelling and pointing at Pierzynksi after the incident.

It does seem that tonight will be quiet, and Ron Gardenhire said the whole thing is over and forgotten. You never know, though, with these teams. Check in with us later tonight. If something interesting happens, we'll let you know about it.

Oh, and Joe Mauer has shaved. Don't get excited, though. He said the beard was just getting too uncomfortable.

Finally, lineups ...

Minnesota
Luis Castillo 2B
Nick Punto 3B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Mike Redmond C
Jeff Cirillo DH
Jason Kubel LF
Jason Bartlett SS
Boof Bonser P

Chicago
Darin Erstad CF
Alex Cintron 2B
Jim Thome DH
Jermaine Dye RF
Paul Konerko 1B
A.J. Pierzynski C
Joe Crede 3B
Rob Mackowiak LF
Juan Uribe SS
John Danks P

- Kelsie Smith

Mauer is still bearded

When reporters asked Twins manager Ron Gardenhire today how Joe Mauer is progressing, the skipper pointed to his catcher, who still has his beard -- evidence that he's not ready yet. Friday Mauer told reporters he would shave when he's ready to play (a beard and a catcher's mask don't go well together).

Mauer also said, however, the beard might go before he's back in the lineup, saying the facial hair just feels a bit strange.

Jason Bartlett is still out of the lineup, though Gardenhire said the shortstop could come in the game at some point tonight and will likely start tomorrow's day game.

With that, lineups ...

Minnesota
Luis Castillo 2B
Jeff Cirillo 3B
Michael Cuddyer RF
Justin Morneau 1B
Torii Hunter CF
Mike Redmond C
Jason Kubel DH
Lew Ford LF
Nick Punto SS
Ramon Ortiz P

Toronto
Alex Rios RF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Vernon Wells CF
Troy Glaus 3B
Frank Thomas DH
Matt Stairs LF
Aaron Hill 2B
Royce Clayton SS
Sal Fasano C
Tomo Ohka P

Pain in the Neck

Jason Bartlett won’t play tonight -- well, won’t start anyway -- but he should be back on the field this weekend. The shortstop seemed entirely relieved to learn that the neck pain that has bothered him since January isn’t anything serious. Guess that means the pain isn’t going to go away completely for awhile, considering he plays just about every day, but he doesn’t seem to mind that too much. He’s been living with the neck pain for a while; only when he started feeling it in his shoulders did he believe he needed to do something about it. And he says, after four days off, he feels a lot better today. No doubt having that off his mind helps, too.

Joe Mauer is still getting better but still isn’t activated. From reading between the lines, I’m guessing he doesn’t play this weekend but wants to get back next week. Of course, he’s not close to saying any such thing, because he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone if it doesn’t happen.

Matt Stairs put on a show in batting practice. He hit a ball off the speaker above straightaway center field once and planted three balls way up into the upper desk. The last of them hit the bottom of the Twins’ AL championship banner, maybe 10-15 feet above the highest rows of fans. Truly McGwire-esque.

Tonight’s lineups:

BLUE JAYS
Rios rf
Overbay 1b
Wells cf
Glaus 3b
Thomas dh
Stairs lf
Hill 2b
Phillips c
Clayton ss

Litsch p

TWINS
Castillo 2b
Cirillo 3b
Cuddyer rf
Morneau 1b
Hunter cf
Redmond c
Kubel dh
Ford lf
Punto ss
Baker p