Instead, the third baseman was out of the starting lineup Friday night with a sore hamstring that first started bothering him during Thursday's game against Baltimore, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

"He felt it in the middle part of the game, and then when he ran in the later innings it definitely tightened up on him," said Gardenhire, who started Brian Buscher at third in Crede's stead Friday. "We'll take no chances here. Whether (he'll need) a day, two, three, I don't know. He's sore, and we're not going to mess with it."

Crede was on the field for batting practice Friday afternoon but retreated before it was over to get treatment. After batting .167 in his first 13 games, he has hit .300 in his last 10.

Crede, 31, has missed a spate of games of late -- he's been out of the starting lineup for four of eight games this month -- for a variety of reasons. He was absent for one game when his wife, Lisa, went into premature labor with the couple's third child, and he missed Wednesday's game in Baltimore because of a stomach ailment that left him dehydrated and hospitalized for IV fluids.

Four straight starts for Mauer: If it's up to his manager, Joe Mauer will be in the starting lineup for the remainder of this series against Seattle. That would mean four straight starts for Mauer for the first time this season, but with an off day on Monday, Gardenhire said Mauer should be fine.

Mauer caught Thursday in Baltimore and Friday against the Mariners. He will likely DH tonight, Gardenhire said, and be back behind the plate Sunday afternoon when the Twins face Seattle left-hander Erik Bedard. Gardenhire said he has no qualms about playing Mauer against a lefty, and with the catcher's .476 batting average and .522 OBP entering Friday's game, it's easy to understand why he wants Mauer to play as much as possible.

"I go day to day with him and see how he feels," Gardenhire said. "I'll just have to talk with him and see which way we want to go, but I'd like to have his bat in all three days because we have an off day Monday. ... He's had no issues (with his back) whatsoever. I think he was a little sore after the 11-inning game here at home, but it was normal soreness. He's had no issues, at least not to me. Hopefully we'll keep it that way."

Pause for Punto: Nick Punto isn't hurt, just laboring, so the shortstop was out of the starting lineup Friday, with Brendan Harris at short.

Punto is mired in an 0-for-17 slump, so Gardenhire wanted to offer him a mental break. Punto has 15 hits in 79 at-bats this season (a .190 average), with one double as his lone extra-base hit.

Gardenhire, as he so often does, lauded Punto's preparation and defense but said the shortstop needs to focus on hitting ground balls.

"He's playing great. He's actually playing great Baseball as far as defense and the whole package. We like that part of it. His swing, we'll continue to work and see if we get that part of it," Gardenhire said. "He's hit some balls hard, been unlucky, but more so than that he needs to start getting the ball back on the line and on the ground, keep them out of the air. The air does him nothing."