FORT MYERS, Fla. — Now the truth can be told.

“I really didn’t get (Curt) Schilling ready for Opening Day,” confessed manager Terry Francona yesterday afternoon, trying to hide a smile. “It was for the Mayor’s Cup — Opening Day just happened to fall into line.”

So it was that the Red Sox met the crosstown Minnesota Twins with the Mayor’s Cup on the line — symbolic of Fort Myers supremacy. Schilling was last night’s Red Sox starter, opposed by two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana.

The premier matchup took place so that the two aces would be on course to pitch their respective season-openers, but their presence added a nice bonus to last night’s deciding game. Schilling did his part, pitching 4 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Sox to a 5-4 win and a 3-1-1 spring edge.

A win for the Twins would have created a 2-2-1 tie, and as defending champs, they would have retained possession of the Cup.

“I’m ready to go,” said Schilling after his final spring outing. “Fifty-five pitches was the target (he threw 56), and I just about get through five innings.”

Schilling finished with a 1.71 ERA in four major-league outings.

“He was efficient,” said Francona. “It’s a good way to go into the season. I think his stuff has been getting better as the spring progresses.”

Manny Ramirez slapped a two-run double in the third and Julio Lugo and Kevin Youkilis added run-scoring singles the next inning to provide the backing.

The Twins managed two runs each off Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez, but the Sox held on in the ninth.

The Twins graciously brought the Cup over to the Boston clubhouse after the game.

A good omen?

The Sox used their entire Opening Day lineup, from top to bottom, including Schilling. Francona joked that he had given himself a motivational speech yesterday afternoon “to relax a little.”

It’s worth noting that the last time the Sox won a Mayor’s Cup series was 2004, the year they went on to win the World Series.

Three hurlers on DL

The Sox officially placed three pitchers on the disabled list — Mike Timlin, Jon Lester and Matt Clement. All three were placed on the DL retroactive to March 23.

Clement is rehabilitating from rotator cuff surgery last fall and is expected to miss most — if not all — of the 2007 season. Lester, meanwhile, will begin a rehab assignment next week with Class-A Greenville.

Timlin, of course, is a more short-term circumstance. He’s been sidelined for most of the spring with a strained oblique. Under MLB rules, players placed on the DL before the start of the season must miss at least six days of the regular season to avoid roster manipulation.

That means Timlin could be eligible to come off the DL on April 8, the final day of the opening road trip. But the Sox may prefer to wait and activate Timlin for the April 10 home-opener.

smcadam@projo.com