Adrian Beltre needed all of five innings to hit for a cycle Monday night against the Houston Astros. The Texas Rangers third baseman picked up a triple in the first inning, a double in the second, a single in the third and capped things off with a solo home run in the fifth.
The Rangers posted a GIF of the four hits in succession:
The highlight below offers a better look at Beltre's homer to left:
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Beltre is just the third player in MLB history to hit for three different cycles over his career. The last time it happened was in 1933.
Globe Life Park tends to favor hitters, which is a factor in this stat from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jeff Wilson:
Given his achievement, this is a great time to appreciate how consistent Beltre has been over his 18-year career. You don't generally see players at his position consistently produce both offensively and defensively over a period of so many years.
Beltre has captured the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards four times each while making the All-Star Game on four occasions as well.
At the very least, the 36-year-old belongs in the discussion for the Hall of Fame once he calls it a career. Baseball America's Ben Badler put into perspective the totality of Beltre's work:
According to Jay Jaffe's JAWS metric, which is used to help measure a player's Hall of Fame candidacy, Beltre is the sixth-best third baseman of all time, ahead of Brooks Robinson, Ron Santo and Paul Molitor, all of whom are enshrined in Cooperstown.
Beltre may be having his worst offensive season since his injury-shortened 2009 campaign, but his cycle Monday night was a reminder of his immense talent. He finished the night 4-for-5, and the Rangers won 12-9 to improve their record to 52-53.
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