By Gordon Wittenmyer
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MINNEAPOLIS -- Before the Minnesota Twins' 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire talked about how heavily stocked the Twins were with first basemen: Doug Mientkiewicz, Todd Sears, Justin Morneau and a few more who have played the position part time.
At which point it was noted the Twins' infield was in danger of tilting to the right side, considering the Twins were down to no third basemen.
"I think Chris Gomez would take offense to that," Gardenhire said.
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Lots of offense, it turns out.
"Yeah, thanks a lot," Gomez, the Twins' everyday third baseman with Corey Koskie on the disabled list, said after driving home the winning run with his third hit of the game.
Gomez's one-out single to left in the eighth inning scored A.J. Pierzynski from third to nudge the Twins to their fifth straight victory, which looked in grave doubt after they blew a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning. Instead, they trimmed another game off Kansas City's divisional lead, reached .500 for the first time since July 8 and have five straight victories for the first time since May 9.
"Hopefully, we can keep it going," said Gardenhire, who could have been talking about his new third baseman as much as the Twins' start from the break.
It was the fifth multihit game in the past six for Gomez, who never played third base professionally before he signed with the Twins as a utility infielder this year.
He missed a 4-for-4 game Monday only because of center fielder Mike Cameron's charging knee-high catch to rob him of a run-scoring single in the sixth.
"He's getting some big hits for us," Gardenhire said. "He's got some big shoes to fill right now with Koskie gone, and he's doing a great job."
Gomez started at third base for the fifth straight game and made his eighth straight start overall, including three games in Anaheim replacing benched shortstop Cristian Guzman.
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He has responded with 10 hits in his past 22 at-bats to raise his season average to .296.
Not bad for a guy who chose the Twins this year because, "They offered me a contract."
"It was getting frustrating," he said of the offseason job search after spending last season with Tampa Bay.
He was getting minor league offers with non-roster invitations to camp. Never mind a starting job.
