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Continued: Twins' Gomez goes for cycle against White Sox
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Up next: 1:05 p.m. today at Chicago • U.S. Cellular Field • TV: FSN (1500-AM)
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Joe Christensen writes in his blog today: "I get the feeling those two former Houston players (Adam Everett and Mike Lamb) need to start producing soon or the Twins will be inserting Punto (.265) and Tolbert (.298) into the lineup on a regular basis." What's your preferred shortstop/third base combo for the Twins?
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CHICAGO — If the rest of the players at U.S. Cellular Field were groggy Wednesday night after a 1 hour, 44-minute rain delay, Carlos Gomez certainly wasn't.
The Twins' leadoff man hit the third pitch from White Sox starter Mark Buehrle into the left-field seats and then sprinted around the bases.
Forget the home run trot. This was a home run blur.
Gomez didn't stop hitting or sprinting all night, becoming the eighth player in Twins history and first in 22 years to bat for the cycle, as they cruised to a 13-1 victory.
Livan Hernandez finished the Twins' first complete game of the season as they won for the sixth time in seven games to increase their lead in the AL Central to 1 1/2 games.
Gomez completed the cycle in reverse order: home run, triple, double and single.
The last Twin to hit for the cycle was Kirby Puckett on Aug. 1, 1986, against Oakland. The last player to do it against the White Sox was Mike Blowers on May 18, 1998.
So one night after seeing White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd come two outs from a no-hitter, the two teams saw something almost as rare.
"You know, it's amazing," Gomez said. "Kirby Puckett -- I've seen the video. He's a good player. He's an All-Star, and I can't explain to you to be the first since Puckett to hit for the cycle, that's unbelievable."
Gomez finished 4-for-6 with two strikeouts. He notched the home run, triple and double against Buehrle.
Needing only a single for the cycle, Gomez came up against White Sox reliever Ehren Wassermann to start the ninth inning.
Leading 7-0, it would have been taboo for Gomez to try to bunt for a hit.
Instead, he swung at the first pitch, and bounced a comebacker off Wassermann's glove. The ball bounced behind the mound, and shortstop Alexei Ramirez had no chance of throwing out Gomez at first.
After touching the base, Gomez thrust both arms in the air in triumph.
Gomez said he did consider a bunt.
"And I say, 'No, no, no. You can do it. You can get a base hit against this guy,'" he said. "And when I hit the ground ball, I closed my eyes and I run, and when I see the pitcher drop the ball, I say, 'You got it! You got it! I was so excited, so happy."
Gomez said the only other time he has hit for the cycle came at extended spring training one year in the Mets' minor-league system.
The blowout score suggests Gomez was simply part of a team-wide onslaught, but Hernandez and Buehrle actually staged a tight pitcher's duel at the start.
The first two hits by Gomez were the difference, when the Twins held a 2-0 lead in the fifth.
His two-out, RBI triple in the fifth scored Matt Tolbert from first base.
If Gomez had looked fast rounding the bases after his home run, he flashed a sixth gear on the triple.
On his RBI double in the sixth inning, Gomez actually reached third base but White Sox center fielder Nick Swisher was charged with an error.
"I didn't have in my mind, 'No, no, stay on second and go for the cycle,'" Gomez said. "I say, 'No, I go for third.'"
The big hit of the five-run sixth inning was actually a two-out, three-run double by Nick Punto, which made it 6-0.
Punto later added a two-run triple, finishing 2-for-5 with five RBI. Mike Redmond went 2-for-4 with a three-run double.
Later, Redmond laughed about the Gomez home run sprint to start the game.
"Sometimes guys come out a little sluggish -- myself included -- after such a long delay," he said. "That kind of woke us all up. We were like, 'Whoa! Here we go.'"
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