Mookie Betts becomes 3rd Red Sox leadoff hitter to ever hit for the cycle
Betts finished 4 for 4 with two runs, an RBI, and a walk in an 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays.
Mookie Betts has done just about everything for the Red Sox this season.
He’s hit his first career walk-off homer, clubbed his 100th career home run, and he’s currently leading the Majors in batting average.
But one thing he hadn’t done all season – or in his career for that matter – was hit for the cycle. That changed Thursday night, as the Red Sox superstar earned yet another accolade in the team’s 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays.
He became the 21st player in Red Sox history to hit for the cycle, and just the third to accomplish the feat as a leadoff hitter. The last leadoff hitter to do so was Brock Holt, in 2015. Before that, it was Leon Culberson in 1943.
Mookie rides the cycle in Toronto.
In order: Single, triple, double, walk, homer. First career cycle.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 10, 2018
Betts, who finished 4 for 4 with two runs, an RBI, and a walk, singled to left to start the game and came around to score.
He then tripled to deep center in the second and doubled to deep left in the fourth, needing just a home run to make history. Betts walked in the sixth, but he got another chance in the ninth and didn’t disappoint.
The leadoff hitter crushed a blast to left field, smashing his 27th shot of the season and keeping his team’s hopes alive momentarily. Though the Red Sox have had a proclivity for shining late in games all season, they couldn’t rally in this one.
