Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman completed the first cycle of the 2016 MLB season Wednesday with an 11th-inning single against the Cincinnati Reds.
It's the first cycle of Freeman's career and seventh in Braves history, per the ballclub's Twitter account. It's Atlanta's first since Mark Kotsay pulled off the feat Aug. 14, 2008.
Matt Kemp of the San Diego Padres had the most recent MLB cycle, hitting for his Aug. 14 of last year. It was almost exactly one year to the day in 2015 that Brock Holt of the Boston Red Sox hit last season's first cycle.
Kevin McAlpin of 680 The Fan provided a history of Braves cycles:
After striking out in his first at-bat, Freeman hit a double to deep right in the third inning and followed that up with a triple in the fourth. He connected on a game-tying home run in the sixth inning before fanning again in the eighth in what could have been his final at-bat.
The Reds had a runner on in the ninth with no outs but failed to even move him over into scoring position. Tucker Barnhart laid down a poor bunt that led to a fielder's choice, and then Jose Peraza grounded into a double play to end the scoring chance.
The Braves and Reds played through an uneventful 10th, allowing Freeman to complete his cycle leading off the 11th. He advanced to second on a balk by Tony Cingrani and was on third base with no one out after Adonis Garcia reached via an infield single.
However, the Braves offense sputtered thereafter. Jace Peterson hit into a fielder's choice after a Nick Markakis walk, and Tyler Flowers and Erick Aybar both made uneventful outs to send it to the 12th.
It appeared Freeman had his first five-hit game when he reached on an infield single in the 12th, but that call was overturned on replay. Atlanta won the game in a wild 13th inning in which the offense went for three runs after the Reds had scored two in the top half. Freeman finished 4-for-7 with two runs scored and one run batted in.
It's been a fundamentally broken season in Atlanta. There's not much solace to be found overall, but Freeman remains a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak outlook for the Braves.
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