Adrian Beltre hit for the cycle for the third time in his career last night and it only took him five innings to do it. Beltre started off with a triple in the first inning, then hit a double, a single, and finally a home run in his fourth at bat. The triple is usually the hardest part of the cycle, so once Beltre got it out of the way, he might have been sniffing for it. His second hit, a double, was hit to almost the same spot as the triple, but Beltre didn't push it, and wound up on second.
The great part of the Beltre home run is that you can see how excited his teammates—Andrus and Rougned Odor, specifically—are for him. I'd like to believe they were happy for Beltre to join Babe Herman, Bob Meusel, and John Reilly as the only men to hit three career cycles, and they surely are. But you know they were really pumped to touch his head.[MLB]
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He's got no one to blame but himself then for what followed his fifth-inning homer. As soon as he got back to the dugout, Head Beltre Pest Elvis Andrus was waiting with the rest of the team to touch his head, which Beltre pretty much hates."I thought I might, but I changed my mind last second," said Beltre, who rapidly circled both of his arms like he was trying to reverse his momentum.
Asked whether he was thinking then about preserving the chance for a cycle, Beltre paused briefly before responding, "Maybe."