Carson Kelly had come close to hitting for the cycle, yet that elusive triple kept holding him back. He had just two triples over a 10-year Major League Baseball career before yesterday.
That's when Kelly became the first Chicago Cubs player in 32 years to hit for the cycle. He tripled in the eighth inning of an 18-3 rout of the Athletics - ending the longest drought without a cycle by any team in the National League.
Kelly even walked twice in the first major league game at Sutter Health Park in West sacramento, California, the minor league ballpark serving as the new home for the A's this season.
"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?" the 30-year-old Kelly said.
"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 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."
Kelly homered in the fourth inning, had a two-run single in the fifth, doubled and walked in the sixth, and tripled in the eighth.
The previous Cubs player to hit for the cycle was Mark Grace on May 9, 1993, against San Diego - before Kelly was even born in 1994. The team had 342 near-cycles since Grace's feat.
Kelly's run-scoring triple made it 17-3. And he was thrilled to make that his third career triple.
"They're fun days, they're rare days and they're once-in-a-lifetime-type days for players," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
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Carson Kelly's cycle is the first by a Chicago Cubs player in 32 years. REUTERS
