Gomez runs - and not - into trouble

There will be days when Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez will look scintillating. Then there will be days such as Sunday, when the young and immensely talented Gomez gets pulled aside by the manager.

Last update: March 10, 2008 - 6:05 AM

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FORT MYERS, FLA. - There will be days when Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez will look scintillating. Then there will be days such as Sunday, when the young and immensely talented Gomez goes 0-for-3 against the New York Yankees and gets pulled aside by the manager.

Gomez ran into his own bunt for an out in the first inning. He didn't realize he was out until after he got back in the batter's box.

But what really got him in trouble was when he didn't run out an infield popout in the fourth inning or a groundout in the fifth.

"The right approach would have been to run it out to first base," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He made it about halfway. We don't do that here. I don't care what you do, you just run. Then [he] didn't run out a ground ball in the fifth inning."

Gardenhire pointed out that infielder Alexi Casilla also failed to run out a grounder.

"And they both got a little bit of an earful about running the balls out to first base," he said.

Gardenhire said he expects young players such as Gomez to have days in which they are difficult to figure out. Reducing those kinds of days would be good for Gomez's career.

"It goes from really good days," Gardenhire said, "to really kind of like, 'oh' days."

Baker update

The Twins will be so cautious with righthander Scott Baker's strained lat muscle that he might not pitch in a game until the end of the week.

Gardenhire said Baker, who has been bothered by soreness in the area for his past two outings, is well enough to pitch. But because it's not the regular season, there's no need to risk further injury to someone who's a key to the rotation.

"We want to slow it down now and get it out of the way before we let it get too much farther," Gardenhire said.

Kevin Slowey will start today against Florida, followed by Livan Hernandez on Tuesday, Francisco Liriano on Wednesday, Nick Blackburn on Thursday and Boof Bonser on Friday.

Baker won't throw in the bullpen until Thursday at the earliest. And, once he's cleared, he will be sent down the road to pitch in minor-league spring training games, which begin Thursday.

Etc.

• Lefthander Francisco Liriano threw in the bullpen Sunday and should make his next start Wednesday against Boston.

• Third baseman Brian Buscher, battling for a spot as a bench player, might get some work in at second base.

• Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew arrived in camp Sunday for a one-week coaching stint.

• Gardenhire started Gomez in right field, and batted him second in the order Sunday to get him as many at-bats as possible.

Upcoming

The Twins play the Marlins today in Jupiter, Fla. Slowey will face Florida righthander Rick VendenHurk. Jesse Crain, Casey Daigle, Julio DePaula, Philip Humber, Pat Neshek and Dennys Reyes are scheduled to follow Slowey.

LA VELLE E. NEAL III

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