WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Carson Kelly had found himself in this situation before and bluntly assessed his reality when he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning Monday night at Sutter Health Park.
The Chicago Cubs catcher needed a triple for the cycle, having hit just two in 1,814 big-league plate appearances. And both of those three-baggers had required help, Kelly recalled, from the outfielder falling down in pursuit of the baseball.
“Odds are not in my favor, right?” Kelly wryly noted.
The 30-year-old was a triple short of the cycle last year with the Texas Rangers just three days before the season ended, but he grounded out in the ninth.
This time, Kelly focused on just putting together a good at-bat — and he got a pitch to drive. He sent Athletics left-hander T.J. McFarland’s full-count elevated sinker off the right-center-field wall, and the ball then rocketed past center fielder JJ Bleday.
Kelly knew by the time he touched first base that a triple — and the cycle — was in play. By the time Bleday got to the ball and threw it back, Kelly already was rounding second base to reach third without a throw. It served as the exclamation point on the Cubs’ 18-3 stomping of the A’s in the first major-league game played in West Sacramento.
“I saw the ricochet and I was like: ‘Oh, boy, this is it right here. I got to go,’” Kelly said. “It’s probably the fastest you’ll ever see me run.”
Kelly became the first Cub to hit for the cycle since Mark Grace on May 9, 1993, ending the longest drought by a National League team. Only the Kansas City Royals (George Brett in 1990) had gone longer without one, and Cubs hitters had fallen one hit short 342 times during the drought.
Grace’s feat occurred more than a year before Kelly was born. Kelly got to know Grace, a Diamondbacks TV analyst, during his five seasons playing for Arizona.
A Cubs player hitting for the cycle has been rarer than a no-hitter, with only 12 cycles compared with the franchise’s 15 individual no-nos.
“That’s pretty special, a great accomplishment, something that I never thought I would get,” Kelly said. “I’m just very fortunate and blessed and a lot of hard work, a lot of great teammates pumping me up. All in all, just a very special night.”
Kelly’s four-hit, five-RBI performance was part of an offensive explosion that featured 18 runs, 21 hits, including 11 for extra bases, and 10 walks. Seven players — Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch, Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kelly — finished with multihit games.
Right-hander Ben Brown took advantage of the Cubs’ four-run first and largely kept the A’s in check over five innings, holding them to three runs. Colin Rea kept the bullpen rested and earned the save for tossing three shutout innings.
Kelly’s feat was notable beyond recording the first Cubs cycle in nearly 32 years:
- He became the third player in MLB history to hit for the cycle and record two walks in a game, joining the New York Yankees’ Joe Gordon (Sept. 8, 1940) and the Philadelphia Athletics’ Mickey Cochrane (Aug. 2, 1933).
- Kelly is the first Cubs catcher to hit for the cycle since Randy Hundley on Aug. 11, 1966, versus the Houston Astros.
- He did it in the No. 9 spot in the batting order, which hadn’t been pulled off in the majors in almost 20 years (the Los Angeles Angels’ Chone Figgins on Sept. 16, 2006).
- Had Kelly hit the ball that went for a triple at Great American Ball Park, Progressive Field, Angel Stadium or Dodger Stadium, it would have been a home run, according to Statcast, preventing him from completing the cycle and instead giving him his second career multihomer game.
Swanson and Cubs manager Craig Counsell were among those who didn’t realize the cycle was in play during Kelly’s last at-bat. The dugout erupted after the ball kicked off the wall.
“They’re fun days, man,” Counsell said. “They’re rare days and they’re once-in-a-lifetime-type days for players.”
Kelly felt inspired to use a new bat for Monday’s game. The lumber had a brief, yet unforgettable, life.
“One and done,” Kelly said, smiling. “Now it’s going on the shelf.”
