HOUSTON -- Dee Gordon was sidelined by a sore quad muscle in his left leg for Sunday’s series finale against the Astros, but the Mariners second baseman said the injury isn’t serious and he hopes to be OK when the club opens its final homestand of the first half on Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Gordon said he felt his leg tighten when he scored from third on Domingo Santana’s ground ball to Astros third baseman Alex Bregman in the third inning of Saturday’s 6-5, 10-inning loss.

“I thought he might be coming home with the ball and I made a move and it just tightened up on me,” Gordon said. “Bregman charged the ball like he usually does, and I think the catcher thought he had a shot, so he put his hands up. I was going to hit my little move to get around him and it just tightened up on me. I was going full speed.”

Seattle manager Scott Servais said Gordon is day-to-day and should be helped by Monday’s day off.

Gordon said the injury had nothing to do with him not going to second base on a ball hit deep in the hole at short by Josh Reddick in the bottom of the third inning, when J.P. Crawford fielded the ball and had no force play.

“There’s nothing I could do with that ball,” Gordon said. “We were both in the shift and he hit in a different direction. If the second baseman is the pull guy in the hole, there’s no way. When J.P. caught it, I was like, ‘What are we going to do?’ There’s nothing I can do on that play.”

Gordon was the 2015 National League Gold Glove winner at second base and has been the Mariners’ most reliable defender this season when healthy, but he committed a critical error earlier in the second on a potential inning-ending double play ground ball that skipped under his glove and opened the door to a five-run frame against lefty Yusei Kikuchi.

Gordon previously missed 19 games with a deep bone bruise on his right wrist from May 21 to June 10.

Worth noting

• After starting Saturday’s game, Kikuchi flew home to Seattle ahead of the team on Sunday morning to be with his wife, Rumi, who is expecting their first child soon. Kikuchi is expected to remain on his normal turn to pitch Friday against the A’s at T-Mobile Park.

“His wife is due really soon,” Servais said. “I got some news the other day that it could be sooner than later. He did not want to leave, I made him leave. He said, ‘It’s not like this in Japanese culture.’ I said, ‘It is like this in American culture. Go be with your wife and hopefully she’s doing well.’ It could be any day. We’ll wait and see.”

• Felix Hernandez and Hunter Strickland both took Sunday off, but have been playing catch almost every day in Seattle as they continue rehabbing from lat strains behind their right shoulders.

“They’re both feeling good and starting to pick up the intensity,” Servais said. “Strickland is feeling really good. He’s out to 120-130 feet. Felix still at 90-100 feet, but feeling better.”

• Reliever Sam Tuivailala, who threw a perfect inning in his second rehab outing with Class A Short Season Everett on Monday, is expected to make one more appearance for the AquaSox before being transferred to Triple-A Tacoma as he works back from Achilles tendon surgery and then a subsequent shoulder issue that arose during his rehab.