Mike Gonzales is a 25-year-old first baseman who's toiling in the low minor leagues these days, but they should be an asterisk next to the big fella's name.

Gonzales was moving along nicely in the Minnesota Twins organization until the injury bug hit the last two years. He suffered a dislocated elbow and torn tendon last season that cost him a good chunk of the year in the High-A Florida State League, and he missed a major part of this season after breaking the hamate bone in his right wrist.

Under normal circumstances, you don't want to be a 25-year-old first baseman in the Midwest League with a lot of good first basemen ahead of you in the organization. Gonzales, however, has a simple goal these days.

"Staying healthy," he said Tuesday night. "That's the big thing. I'm going to play as much as I can, when I'm healthy."

Gonzales showed what he's capable of doing by slugging a long solo home run to right-center field as Cedar Rapids completed a four-game sweep of the Peoria Chiefs, 4-2, before 1,302 fans on a steamy night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Gonzales is a big man at 6-foot-6 and 264 pounds and he takes a big swing. He flattened the ball on the home run, which was his third in 23 games for the Kernels.

"He left a changeup up in the zone," said Gonzales. "I got lucky and put a pretty good swing on it."

The Twins selected Gonzales in the ninth round of the 2008 draft from Diablo Valley College in California. He hit .331 with the Gulf Coast League Twins in 2008, hit .304 with eight homers in 2009 at Elizabethton in the Appalachian League, belted 13 homers with Beloit in the Midwest League in 2010 and swatted 15 homers with Beloit in 2011.

Then came the injuries, so he's back in the Midwest League instead of somewhere higher in the Twins organization. Undaunted, he intends to keep plugging away.

"I just go out there," he said. "If they keep inviting me back to spring training, I'm going to try and make the team. That's how it works. That's how it goes with the job."

Gonzales broke his hamate bone early in the year at Fort Myers in the Florida State League.

"I took a swing. We were in Palm Beach," he said. "They went in there and took it (the bone) out. From there I've had a bit of tendinitis and inflammation. It kind of set me back a little bit. It cost me four months of the season."

The hamate bone has been described as a relatively useless part of the anatomy. "All it can do is break," said Gonzales. "And it did."

Gonzales joined the Kernels on July 20. He's started 14 games at first base and nine games as the designated hitter. Manager Jake Mauer has been leaning toward DH in recent days, trying to protect Gonzales' hand and keep him as healthy as possible.

Gonzales has been in pro baseball long enough to become what's called a Rule 5 free agent this winter, which means another club could take him in the Rule 5 free agent draft if the Twins don't protect him on their 40-man roster.

"He's a power-hitting first baseman and he's got good hands and moves pretty good," said Mauer, who doesn't know what the Twins will do or if anyone else would take him. "It depends on what other teams' needs are."

Joel Licon collected a clutch two-run single for the Kernels Tuesday night as they raised their record to 84-48, the best mark in the Midwest League. Miguel Sulbaran struck out eight batters in six innings for the Kernels, allowing only five hits and one unearned run.

Christian Powell was credited with a hold for Cedar Rapids and Dallas Gallant pitched the ninth inning for his first save.

The Kernels will open a three-game series against Kane County Wednesday night at Perfect Game Field with Jose Berrios (7-6, 3.74) scheduled to pitch for the home team.

PEORIA (2): McElroy, cf, 5 0 1 0, Martini, rf, 3 0 0 1, Martin, 3b, 4 0 1 0, Schaffer, 1b, 4 0 0 0, Walton, lf, 4 1 1 0, Caldwell, 2b, 4 0 2 0, Herrera, ss, 4 1 2 0, Vargas, dh, 4 0 0 0, Velazco, c, 3 0 0 0. Totals 35 2 7 1.

KERNELS (4): Murphy, cf, 4 1 2 0, Licon, 2b, 4 0 1 2, A.Walker, rf, 4 0 1 0, Gonzales, dh, 3 1 1 1, Harrison, 3b, 4 0 1 1, Altobelli, c, 4 0 2 0, Quesada, 1b, 3 0 0 0, R.Walker, ss, 4 1 0 0, Pineda, lf, 3 1 0 0. Totals 33 4 8 4.

Peoria    010 000 100 - 2 7 2
Kernels   120 000 01x - 4 8 3

Garcia, Adamek (7), Donofrio (8) and Velazco. Sulbaran, Powell (7), Gallant (9) and Altobelli. W - Sulbaran (8-4). L - Garcia (4-5). S - Gallant (1). 2B - McElroy (9). HR - Gonzales (3). SB - Murphy (6). E - Martin (8), Herrera (5), R.Walker 2 (3), Harrison (26). T - 2:32. A - 1,302.