Twins manager Ron Gardenhire gave a few postgame updates after Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Orioles. Among them were updates on the health of Justin Morneau and J.J. Hardy

— Morneau did not play on Tuesday and Gardenhire said that he likely won’t play again until at least Thursday when the team is home. The first baseman has been dealing with some general soreness, including some in his ribcage and back, the skipper said. This is the time of year when Gardenhire said it’s not worth having Morneau play so they are having him take it easy, like they said they would do earlier this spring.

Minnesota Twins
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“I told him, if there’s any issue, where you get
sore at all through your torso or legs — we’re just going to [pull
back],” Gardenhire said. “He’s always played through it, and we’re just going to back off
a few days here, and just take it easy. Do your light workouts and just
take it easy. He’s got plenty of time to get plenty of at-bats.”

Gardenhire said Morneau hasn’t hit in a couple days but they view that as a good thing since they wanted him to cut down on his number of swings this spring.

— Hardy was not in the lineup again as he’s still feeling something in his right quadriceps. Hardy left Saturday’s game in Clearwater with what the team called tightness in the quad.

“We’re not going to push that
issue,” Gardenhire said. “There’s just really no need. After that off day the 22nd, we’re
going to have a lot of games, plus those two at Target Field for guys
to get plenty of at-bats and get deep into the games.”

As for giving all the guys a few days off and some long bus trips off, Gardenhire joked that he expects all of them to be feeling better soon — as in feeling better after Friday’s three-plus hour bus ride to Port St. Lucie to play the Mets.

“Personally I think once we get past Port St. Lucie, guys are going to get well real quick,” Gardenhire said with a laugh. “Then they’ll probably come down with the flu bug about the time we go back to Jupiter. I’m just guessing. There is that cold season and it’s normally around Port St. Lucie and Jupiter [trips]. They are afraid that they might catch a cold over there and they don’t want to take a chance.”