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Gomez takes Twins for a ride

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By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: May 1, 2008 - 9:17 AM

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TWINS 4, CHICAG0 3 Up next: 7:10 p.m. Friday vs. Detroit • Metrodome • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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Carlos Gomez has done some amazing things for the Twins this season.

Wednesday, he topped the list.

He put manager Ron Gardenhire at a loss for words. In an argument with an umpire.

This was the fourth inning, before Gomez got his third hit and scored the go-ahead run in an eventual 4-3 victory over the White Sox at the Metrodome.

With two outs, Gomez tried stealing third base with a 3-1 count to Joe Mauer.

"That was not a good play," Gardenhire said. "It almost turned into a good play. But it really wasn't a good play."

Gomez would have been out at third, had the ball not bounced away from Joe Crede's glove.

When Gomez sprinted toward home, Crede retrieved the ball in foul territory and threw a strike to catcher Toby Hall, who blocked the plate as Gomez slid.

Gomez did appear to touch home with his left foot before Hall applied the tag, but umpire Tim Timmons called him out.

Gardenhire went to argue, but his heart wasn't in it.

"I wanted to tell Timmy, 'I'm not really mad at you; I'm mad at somebody else right now,'" Gardenhire said. "I've got my best hitter at the plate, and another pretty good hitter [Justin Morneau] on deck, and [Gomez] just gets out of whack out there."

Gomez said he thought Gardenhire had given him the steal sign.

"I make a mistake," Gomez said.

It was just another entertaining moment in the ongoing reality show that is "Project GoGo."

Earlier in the game, Gomez had infuriated the coaching staff by showboating on a play in center field, making a routine catch off to the side of his body.

Gardenhire said he told Gomez, "If you do that again, I'm taking you out of the game."

From that moment, Gomez went back to catching the ball above his head, with two hands squeezing tight.

"It's kind of crazy really," Gardenhire said. "You're in the major leagues here, and that's high school. I don't even know if that's college. But he's so enthusiastic and such a player and has such talent -- that you live with it."

Meanwhile, Gomez was churning out his team-leading ninth multi-hit game of the year, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base, a double and two runs scored.

With the score tied 3-3 in the seventh, he led off with his ninth bunt single of the season. He is on pace to shatter the team record for bunt hits, of 29, set by Rod Carew in 1974.

Gomez advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brendan Harris and scored on a two-out double by Morneau.

"When I'm on second or third, and Morneau or Mauer are hitting, I know it's 90 percent I'm going to score," Gomez said, perhaps recalculating the math after his earlier baserunning blunder.

With a two-game sweep, the Twins pulled within 1 1/2 games of the first-place White Sox. With the clubhouse music blaring, Morneau spoke to the positives of having Gomez in the leadoff spot.

"He makes the pitcher nervous because you never know what he's going to do," he said. "He might steal third, or any base hit, he's going to score. So they're sitting out there worried about him and they can make mistakes."

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