FORT MYERS, FLA. — Twins third baseman Joe Crede is back in the lineup today for the first time since getting hit on the knuckles by Matt Garza’s fastball Monday.

Delmon Young (sore shoulder) is not in the lineup, but he is playing catch on the field. (As is Joe Mauer.)

Justin Morneau will miss a third consecutive game with stiffness in his back. (Michael Cuddyer gets a start at first base today.)

Brian Buscher was on his way to the batting cage this morning, with Wednesday’s chest scare behind him.

The doctors told him he might have gotten dehydrated playing nine innings in the sweltering heat Monday, and tweaked something in the tissue on the left side of his chest. Buscher could feel it when he followed through on his swing, and the Twins took every precaution.

Buscher had an EKG exam, a chest X-ray and some blood work, and the hospital sent him home as soon as the blood results came back with no red flags.

“When they said, we need to get him to the hospital, it kind of freaked me out a little bit,” Buscher said. “It was in a bad area. [The doctor] said, ‘One out of 100 of these comes out like we don’t want them to, but this is just something we have to do.’ ”

Francisco Liriano pitches today against a Red Sox team that will fly to New York after the game, with a long spring training behind them. We’ll probably see a lot of hitters swinging early today.

RED SOX
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, CH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. Jason Varitek, C

Starting pitcher: RH Brad Penny

TWINS

1. Denard Span, RF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
3. Jason Kubel, LF
4. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
5. Joe Crede, 3B
6. Carlos Gomez, CF
7. Mike Redmond, C
8. Brendan Harris, DH
9. Nick Punto, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Francisco Liriano

Hammond Stadium. First pitch: 12:05 p.m. (Central)

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