The Milwaukee Brewers‘ Christian Yelich joined an exclusive club Wednesday, hitting for the third cycle of his career during a 14-11 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Yelich’s three career cycles tie him with five other players for the MLB lead. Trea Turner was the most recent player to accomplish the feat, doing so on his birthday last season when he was with the Washington Nationals.
All three of Yelich’s cycles have come against the Reds, who have allowed 20 cycles in their history, second most to the St. Louis Cardinals (24) all time. Yelich, 30, is the first player to hit three cycles against a single team.
“I’d definitely rather win the game,” Yelich said. “Weird things happen in baseball. Anytime you can hit for a cycle, it’s pretty cool. I will try to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Yelich, who was the Brewers’ designated hitter on Wednesday, tripled in the top of the ninth inning — during a six-run rally — to complete his latest cycle after hitting a ground-rule double in the top of the first, a 372-foot home run in the top of the third and a single in the top of the fifth. He finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Yelich’s other two cycles against the Reds both came during the 2018 season, after which he was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player.
“A lot of things kind of have to happen to hit the cycle,” Yelich said. “It is hard enough to get four hits in a major league game, and to have the right kind, there’s an element of luck. It is still pretty cool.”
The 25 runs scored in Wednesday’s game were the most in any game this season, while the Brewers became the first team in 2022 to lose a game despite scoring 10 or more runs. Teams had been 53-0 when scoring 10 or more runs before Wednesday.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com