"That kind of sticks in your craw a little bit longer," Gardenhire said of last season's 163rd game. One game, one potential victory, means "a lot, because we did have to deal with that last year."

The Twins were denied a chance to rally in a nine-inning game when umpires, led by crew chief Randy Marsh, called the game at 12:19 a.m. EDT, with several more hours of rain in the forecast. Weather reports before the game even started showed that the possibility of playing nine innings was remote, and the Twins believe they waited out a 1 1/2-hour delay in the fourth inning because umpires just wanted to get through the fifth inning, making the game (and the Orioles' 4-1 lead) official and not subject to being replayed.

"There was no window. We went back out just to get another inning in," Michael Cuddyer said. "It stunk."

"You wait that long, you better be able to finish the Baseball game," Gardenhire agreed. "It wasn't handled right; you can't tell me it was."

What would his advice have been Wednesday night, if asked?

"I would have hated to play a doubleheader today," he joked. "The sun's kind of hot out there."

Briefly: Joe Crede felt so much better Thursday, a day after being taken to a hospital for treatment for severe dehydration, that he was in the Twins' starting lineup.

Carlos Gomez was not in the lineup, but Gardenhire said he was available if necessary. Gomez was tagged hard on the face and neck, "and I couldn't breathe for a minute," he said, after a collision at home plate with Orioles catcher Gregg Zaun. "Didn't hurt, just couldn't breathe."

Pitching matchups for the Twins' three-game series against Seattle, beginning tonight in the Metrodome: Scott Baker (0-4) vs. Chris Jakubauskas (1-3) tonight; Francisco Liriano (1-4) vs. Felix Hernandez (4-0), a rematch of their Opening Night battle, on Saturday; and Nick Blackburn (2-2) vs. left-hander Erik Bedard (2-1) on Sunday.