The Chicago Cubs refused to complain about the minor-league ballpark, their cramped clubhouse, the long walk between the clubhouse and dugout and the chilly night. They instead decided to embrace life playing back at a Triple-A ballpark, savor the unique experience and promptly went out Monday and crushed the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. And, hey, if it’s OK by MLB officials, they’re willing to hang around town as long as they like. The Cubs went out and pummeled the Athletics,18-3, with 21 hits, six doubles, four home runs and a triple in front of a sellout crowd of 12,192.
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.
Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle during the team’s 18-3 rout over the Athletics Monday night at Sutter Health Park. Kelly, 30, hit a home run in the fourth inning and a two-run single in the fifth inning and doubled and walked in the sixth inning. He had been a triple away from a cycle a few times before, and he knew the odds were stacked against him for getting the elusive triple.