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Home | Sports | Twins

Gomez provides thrills, chills

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: July 2, 2008 - 11:33 PM

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TEAM NOTES

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Carlos Gomez went 3-for-5 with some more adventures in center field Wednesday during the Twins' 7-0 shutout over the Tigers at the Metrodome.

In the sixth inning, Gomez dashed toward the infield and made a diving catch, robbing Carlos Guillen of a hit.

The Tigers were down 6-0, but they had runners at first and second with no outs.

After that shining moment, Gomez almost had one for the blooper reel.

Marcus Thames hit a towering fly to Gomez's right, and he overran the ball by several feet before reversing course to make the catch.

Later, Gomez smiled, saying he felt like he was tracking a ball "in the wind."

"He took a couple of football routes out there," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He did the down-out-and-go. He took a buttonhook on one [from Thames]."

Gomez continues to redefine the word catalyst. His first- inning bunt single was his 20th, stretching his major-league lead in that category.

He also struck out for the 84th time, leaving him on pace for 160, which would break the Twins' single-season record of 145 set by Bobby Darwin in 1972.

Positive checkup

Gardenhire, who had heart palpitations in 2005, said doctors gave him a clean bill of health Wednesday morning.

Gardenhire, 50, had a thorough heart exam as a follow-up to a recent stress test. Besides his own scare three years ago, Gardenhire lost his brother, Mike, in May to a heart attack at age 55.

Gardenhire said the doctors showed him a 3-D image of his heart and discussed what can go wrong, using TV journalist Tim Russert's recent death as an example.

"Everything's good," Gardenhire said. "I recommend [the exam]. ... Pretty amazing stuff to actually see the video of your heart working, what they look for and a really in-depth explanation."

One really wild pitch

Even with a 7-0 lead, the Twins kept pushing.

In the eighth inning, Tigers reliever Fernando Rodney threw a pitch that bounced off the backstop and rolled to first baseman Thames.

On that one wild pitch, Alexi Casilla raced from first to third.

"I looked to see him jogging into second, and I see him jogging into third," Gardenhire said. "... That's the fun part of the game for the manager, watching guys hustle."

Cuddyer update

Michael Cuddyer had a magnetic resonance imaging exam this week, and Gardenhire said it showed nothing worse than a sprained knuckle in Cuddyer's left index finger.

Cuddyer is eligible to come off the disabled list July 13, the day before the All-Star break. Gardenhire said depending on how quickly Cuddyer heals, he could go on a minor-league rehab assignment during the break before rejoining the team.

Etc.

• When Craig Monroe homers, as he did in Tuesday's 6-4 victory over the Tigers, the Twins are 7-0. Monroe has three three-run homers this season: two of them broke ties, the third tied the score with two outs in the ninth inning.

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