Carlos Gomez's name went into the history books for the Twins. He is the first player in about 21 years to hit for the cycle. Kirby Puckett was the last Twins player to do it, and the 7th in Twins history and he did it against Oakland on August 1st, 1986 (I wasn't even born yet). After a nearly 2 hour rain delay, Gomez lead off the game with a home run on the 3rd pitch he saw. He then later hit a triple, double and finally a single in the 9th inning to complete the cycle in reverse. He also drove in 3 RBI's to bring his season total up to 11. In just 5 at bats, his average jumped from .261-.282 and his OPS jumped from .647 to .733. In his last 8 games, he is 13-30 with 2 home runs, 6 RBI's and 4 stolen bases. Hopefully he can continue to hit well, but I know that he'll be up and down all season. Nonetheless he's been very exciting to watch.
Besides Gomez having a good night at the plate, Nick Punto and Mike Redmond also had great nights. Redmond started in place of Joe Mauer who got the game off before tomorrow's day game and went 2-4 with 3 RBI's. Nick Punto went off and had a 5 RBI night with a 3-run double and a 2-run triple. Before the game, Punto had 2 RBI's and Redmond had zero.
Craig Monroe, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer were 3-5 in the batting order and all went 2-5 and they combined for 4 runs scored. Both of Morneau's hits went to left field, which is a good thing to see from a left-handed batter. Delmon Young and Matt Tolbert both went 2-4 with 2 runs scored and Young drove in his 10th RBI as a Twin. Brendan Harris was the only player not to get a hit, but he did walk twice.
Pitching wise, Livan Hernandez was fantastic from the beginning to the end (with a hiccup in the 9th). It was his first time facing the White Sox and the big right-hander went 8 1/3 innings before giving up a home run to Jermaine Dye which was the only run of the game. He finished the inning for his first complete game since May 27th of last season. He is now sporting a very good 5-1 record with a 3.83 ERA. Since I criticized him here last Monday, he is now 2-0 and has allowed just 2 runs in the two starts (16 total innings). I'm glad he's (so far) proving me wrong, but I will eat my crow at the end of the season.
Today, the Twins play a 1:05 PM game. Kevin Slowey returns from the DL to face Javier Vazquez.
Game Ball
Carlos Gomez - Center Fielder
Line: 4-6, double, triple, home run, 3 RBI
Down on the Farm!
Hitter of the Day
Brock Peterson - Rock Cats - First Base
Note: Since none of the other minor league teams played yesterday, this was a pretty easy decision (and had they played, it probably still would've been Peterson nonetheless). Peterson got 4 hits and drove in 3 runs. He also doubled for the 11th time this season and now has driven in 31 batters in just 30 games. He is also hitting .385/.469/.615 with men in scoring position.
Pitcher of the Day
Armando Gabino - Rock Cats - Relief Pitcher
Note: Gabino came into the game in the 9th inning and gave the Rock Cats two innings of scoreless relief and picked up his 3rd win of the season. He is now 3-1 with a .095 ERA. He also has a 13/2 K/BB ratio.
Touch 'Em All!
- Rochester Red Wings: None
- New Britain Rock Cats: Steven Tolleson (3)
- Ft. Myers Miracle: None
- Beloit Snappers: None
- Red Wings-Clippers game was postponed.
- Rock Cats beat the Baysox, 7-6 in 10 innings.
- Miracle had an Off-Day.
- Snappers had an Off-Day.
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