Rangers History Today: Adrián Beltré Hits For Cycle For Third Time
On this date in Texas Rangers history, third baseman Adrián Beltré became the first player to hit for the cycle twice in his Rangers career.
On August 3, 2015, Beltré accomplished the feat against the Houston Astros. He started with a triple off Lance McCullers Jr. in the first inning. Beltré then doubled off Josh Fields in the second inning, singled off Mike Fiers in the third inning and then completed the cycle with a home run off Fiers in the fifth.
Stunningly enough, that’s not the fastest a player has accomplished the cycle in a game. In fact, Beltré was the sixth Major League player to accomplish a cycle by the end of the fifth inning since 1961.
Beltré hit his first Rangers cycle on August 24, 2012 against Minnesota. In that game, he tripled in the first, doubled in the third, homered in the fifth and then singled in the seventh.
But it gets better. Beltré’s cycle in 2015 was the third of his Major League career. He recorded his first cycle with the Seattle Mariners on September 1, 2008.
The other three players to hit for a cycle three times in their career were John Reilly of Cincinnati, Bob Meusel of the New York Yankees and Babe Herman. Like Beltré, Herman hit his cycles for two different teams: two for the Brooklyn Robins in 1931 and one for the Chicago Cubs in 1933.
Finally, Beltré became the first player in Major League history to hit for the cycle with two different teams in the same ballpark. Yep, that means all three of Beltré's cycles were recorded at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
One last bizarre twist to all of this? When Beltré hit for his cycle with the Mariners, three of those hits were off Rangers starter Matt Harrison. Guess who got the win for the Rangers during Beltré’s cycle in 2012? Yep, Harrison.
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