ANAHEIM, Calif. — Joe Mauer made it home just in time.

Twin daughters Maren Virginia and Emily Teresa were born at 3:35 a.m. CDT Wednesday — just 30 minutes after the Minnesota Twins’ catcher arrived at the delivery room to join wife Maddie after taking a charter flight from Southern California.

“I saw a thing going across (the TV screen) that said, ‘Royal Baby,’ and I was going, ‘Oh, that’s the one in England,’ ” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “So it’s a pretty cool deal for everybody around here. We’re all pretty excited.”

The babies weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces, said Mauer’s father, Jake, who attended the births with his wife, Teresa.

Mauer said mother and daughters were doing well but his son “didn’t know what hit him.”

He said the girls were given as middle names the names of Maddie’s and Joe’s mothers. Maddie has a sister named Emily.

With an original due date of Aug. 31, Joe Mauer, 30, had thought he would have a few more weeks to prepare for fatherhood. Instead, his wife called the visitors clubhouse at Angel Stadium during Twins batting practice Tuesday, informing equipment manager Rod McCormick that she was headed to the hospital.

A mad scramble ensued with Gardenhire pulling Mauer off the field so he could find a flight back to the Twin Cities. Mike Herman, director of team travel, was unable to secure a commercial flight that Mauer could make on such short notice, so a private charter was lined up at LA/Ontario (Calif.) International Airport.

“Joe was champing at the bit here trying to get out once we found out for sure,” Gardenhire said. “They were working every angle to try to find a plane to get him there.”

Mauer grew frustrated at one point with the process, and Gardenhire tried to calm him down. The manager reminded Mauer his contemporaries “would have had to get a Greyhound bus” to make it back home in the ’70s and early ’80s.

“You’ll get there,” Gardenhire told Mauer. “She’ll wait for you. I promise.”

Mauer got a ride from Angels visitors clubhouse manager Brian “Bubba” Harkins and had to wait until 9 p.m. PDT before taking off. From there, everything had to break just right, but Mauer was able to witness the birth of his daughters without much time to spare.

“Babies are always sudden,” Gardenhire said. “I don’t think you can time those things.”

The Twins placed Mauer on the paternity list and recalled backup catcher Drew Butera from Triple-A Rochester.

Most likely Mauer will rejoin the Twins on Saturday in Seattle. Under Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, if he needs more than three days’ paternity leave, he would have to be placed on the restricted list without pay.

Mauer is earning $23 million this season — $125,683.06 a day.

Charley Walters contributed to this story. Follow Mike Berardino at twitter.com/MikeBerardino.