As part of the 18-3 drubbing of the A’s on Monday night in Sacramento, Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle.
In doing so, he became the 348th player in MLB history to hit at least one single, double, triple, and home run in the same game. Kelly is the first Cubs player to hit for the cycle since Mark Grace in 1993 and the 18th catcher to accomplish the feat in major league history. Before Kelly, the most recent catcher to do so was J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies on June 12, 2023.
Kelly’s night began with walk in the top of the second and then a homer in the fourth. He came up again in the fifth and singled. The very next inning he doubled, and he also drew a walk later in that same sixth inning. Kelly’s final at-bat came in the eighth, and he was in need of the most elusive component of the cycle — the triple.
The 30-year-old Kelly came into Monday night’s game with just two career three-baggers in 558 games. You know what came next:
That one traveled 395 feet and would’ve been a home run in four of 30 MLB ballparks. However, the fence distance was just right in this case, and Kelly got the flavor of hit he needed for a bit of history. On the night, Kelly in the No. 9 hole for the Cubs was 4 for 4 with a pair of walks, five RBI, and three runs scored.
Kelly’s cycle comes in the first ever MLB game played in Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, where the A’s are playing on a presumably temporary basis while they try to make official their proposed relocation to Las Vegas.
The veteran backstop is in his first season with the Cubs. This past winter, he inked a two-year, $11.5 million free-agent contract with Chicago after spending the 2024 season with the Rangers and Tigers.
