Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle during the team’s 18-3 rout over the Athletics Monday night at Sutter Health Park.
Kelly, 30, hit a home run in the fourth inning and a two-run single in the fifth inning and doubled and walked in the sixth inning.
He had been a triple away from a cycle a few times before, and he knew the odds were stacked against him for getting the elusive triple.
“I’ve been in this same position before where I needed a triple for the cycle. If anybody’s ever looked up my numbers, I have two triples, so odds are not in my favor, right?” Kelly said after the game.
“I didn’t get it done the first time. This time I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to put a good at-bat together.’ Hit it, like, ‘Oh yeah, pretty good.’ Then I hit (first base) and saw it ricochet, and I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is it right here, I gotta go.’ That’s probably the fastest you’ll ever see me run.”
With the eighth-inning triple, Kelly became the first Cubs player since Mark Grace to hit for the cycle. The former first baseman did it May 9, 1993, against the San Diego Padres. Kelly is the first Cubs catcher to hit for the cycle since Randy Hundley did it Aug. 11, 1966.
Kelly said he knows Grace.
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“I know Mark Grace, too, in Arizona. I’ll have to hit him up,” Kelly said. “Pretty special. Great accomplishment. Something I never thought I would get. I’m just very fortunate and blessed. A lot of hard work, a lot of great teammates pumping me up. So, all in all, just a very special night.”
Kelly also became just the third major leaguer to hit for the cycle and walk twice in the same game. Joe Gordon did it for the New York Yankees in 1940, and Mickey Cochrane did it in 1937 for the Philadelphia A’s.
While Kelly knew he was going for the cycle, his manager, Craig Counsell, did not.
“I didn’t realize he had a chance at a cycle, but when that ball kicked off the wall, the dugout started going crazy. So, I figured something was going on,” Counsell said. “They’re fun days, they’re rare days and they’re once-in-a-lifetime-type days for players.”
The Kansas City Royals now hold the longest stretch without a cycle. Franchise legend George Brett was the last Royal to hit for the cycle July 25, 1990, against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Cubs (3-4) play the Athletics (2-3) Tuesday at 10:05 p.m. ET in the second game of their three-game series.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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