Austin Hays Becomes Sixth Player in Orioles History to Hit For Cycle

In a rain-shortened affair on Wednesday night, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Austin Hays became the first Orioles player since Jonathan Villar in 2019 to hit for the cycle and the sixth player in franchise history to do so.

The weather wasn't very kind to Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals fans who came out to Camden Yards on Wednesday night.

A steady rain turned into a torrential downpour that ended up forcing the game to get called after just six innings of play. 

However, Orioles outfielder Austin Hays made the most of it at the plate, becoming the sixth player in franchise history to hit for the cycle and the third player in the 30-year history of Camden Yards to do so.

Austin Hays locks up the cycle with this double, the fifth time in Orioles history one has done so, and the first since Jonathan Villar in 2019.

All he needed was four at-bats: single, homer, triple, double: pic.twitter.com/Qdk7fdxLIZ

— Zach Silver (@zachsilver) June 23, 2022

Hays needed just four at-bats to do so and the Orioles offense helped him out to get back up to the plate so often in a shortened game.

Baltimore ended up winning the game, 7-0, with four players getting at least four at-bats, including Hays, who was the lead-off hitter on the night.

His third-inning homer just cleared Mount Baltimore in left field and his fourth inning triple caromed off the right field wall perfectly to allow him to get there standing up.

A cycle in just FOUR ABs for Austin Hays. 🤯

(MLB x @HankookTireUSA) pic.twitter.com/tSWXbxGR4H

— MLB (@MLB) June 23, 2022

So far, the 26-year-old has put together quite the season for Baltimore, hitting .287/.347/.482 with an .829 OPS, 2.2 bWAR, 10 home runs, 40 RBI and 71 hits already in just 65 games.

Based off what Hays was able to accomplish in his first full season in 2021, he looked primed to eclipse those career highs and is a darkhorse All-Star Game candidate.

As for Baltimore, the win improved their record to 31-39 on the year, their best 70-game start since going 35-35 in 2017. The Orioles won 75 games that season and haven't won more than 54 in a season since.

It's already looking like Baltimore is going to shatter that wins total possibly before the end of July.