MINNEAPOLIS – The MRI on Joe Mauer’s left knee showed some tissue inflammation but nothing more serious, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before Tuesday’s game against the Indians.

“Everything came out good, so good news,” Gardenhire said.

Gardenhire said that Mauer would probably receive a cortisone shot to help with the inflammation in his knee, which would sideline him for around 4-5 days. A decision on whether Mauer will get the shot will be made once he consults with the Twins doctors on Tuesday night.

Mauer injured his knee while swinging in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the A’s, and the catcher left the game after it started to get worse while he ran up the first-base line.

The Twins are on the verge of clinching the American League Central title as their magic number was 2 entering Tuesday and there are 12 games remaining in the regular season, so Gardenhire said the timing of the injury isn’t such a bad thing.

“If they decide to do [the cortisone shot], then it’s probably 4-5 days, which he could use,” Gardenhire said. “That would be good [for him].”

Although Gardenhire had said that he wasn’t concerned that Mauer’s knee injury was anything serious since the doctors had not seemed concerned, he acknowledged that the positive results of the MRI were a bit of a relief.

“They told me in the first place it was nothing so I was listening to them,” Gardenhire said. “But I think you never know until you see an MRI, you never know what you can find.”

Until Mauer is ready to return to the lineup, the Twins catching duties will be split between Drew Butera and Jose Morales. Butera was behind the plate for Tuesday’s contest to catch starter Scott Baker and Morales was slated to catch Wednesday afternoon’s contest with Nick Blackburn on the mound.