September 1, 2008: Mariners’ Adrián Beltré hits for first career cycle

In 2008 Adrián Beltré was in the fourth season of a five-year contract he had signed with the Seattle Mariners after his breakthrough 48-homer, Silver Slugger, National League MVP-runner-up 2004 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.1 The 29-year-old Beltré was headed to his second consecutive Gold Glove at third base in 2008, but his offensive numbers had never returned to their 2004 levels. In Seattle’s Safeco Field, Beltré played at a home field that favored pitchers,2 and a torn ligament in his left thumb hindered him even further in 2008.

When Beltré and the Mariners arrived at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for the opener of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Labor Day 2008, his season totals were modest, even after a two-homer game against the Cleveland Indians a day earlier: a batting average of .256, an OPS of .762, and 23 home runs. The Mariners, 30 games under .500 and in last place in the American League West Division, were the only team in the AL already eliminated from playoff contention.

The Rangers were second in the AL West, but 17 games behind the division-leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Texas’s pitching staff allowed a majors-worst 967 runs in 2008, and the holiday crowd of 16,171 saw six Rangers pitchers get shelled for 12 runs on 20 hits in Seattle’s 12-6 win. They also saw a glimpse of a better future in Arlington, as Beltré – who three years later was instrumental in the Rangers’ 2011 AL pennant – hit for his first career cycle.

Texas started rookie left-hander Matt Harrison, one of 15 pitchers to get starts for the Rangers in 2008. Drafted out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in 2003, Harrison had come to Texas in a July 2007 prospects-for-veterans deal sending power-hitter Mark Teixeira to Atlanta.3 The Rangers called up the 22-year-old Harrison in July 2008, and he made his major-league debut on July 8, pitching seven strong innings and earning the win against the Angels.

Against the Mariners, Harrison was in search of his seventh victory. He retired Seattle in order in the first, but Beltré belted a solo home run in the top of the second, his 24th of the season and third in two days, for a 1-0 Mariners lead.

Righty Carlos Silva started for the Mariners. The 29-year-old Silva had taken a regular turn in the Minnesota Twins’ rotation from 2004 through 2007, twice topping 200 innings pitched, before signing a four-year contract for a reported $48 million with Seattle in December 2007.4 He had struggled after the move and came into this start with a 4-14 record and a 6.36 ERA.

Silva relinquished Seattle’s lead in the bottom of the second. Hank Blalock led off with a double but was thrown out at third when Marlon Byrd grounded to shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt, who threw to Beltré for the tag. Byrd moved to second on a Nelson Cruz groundout and scored the tying run on Chris Davis’s single to center.

In the fourth, Beltré struck again. Betancourt doubled to left and moved to third on a groundout. Beltré lined an 0-and-1 pitch into left field for an RBI single. One out later, Wladimir Balentien doubled Beltré home, and the Mariners led 3-1.

They added another run in the fifth. With one down, Miguel Cairo hit a dribbler in front of the mound. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia – like Harrison part of the Rangers’ return in the Teixeira trade – pounced but threw the ball away, allowing Cairo to take second on the single and error.

Saltalamacchia injured his elbow on the play and had to leave the game.5 Rookie Taylor Teagarden, who was born in Dallas and grew up rooting for the Rangers, replaced Saltalamacchia; it was Teagarden’s third major-league appearance.6 Cairo took third on Ichiro Suzuki’s single and scored on Betancourt’s fly to right. The Mariners had a 4-1 lead.

But the 2008 Rangers had the most prolific offense in baseball, leading the majors with 901 runs scored. They had left the bases loaded in the third, and Rangers runners were thrown out on the bases in three other innings. In the fifth, Texas exploded for five runs. Josh Hamilton led off by launching his 31st home run into the left-center-field bleachers.7

An out later, Blalock lined another double down the left-field line; he took third on Byrd’s groundout. Cruz walked and Davis singled to right. Blalock scored and the Rangers had runners at the corners. Teagarden blasted a three-run home run in his first major-league at-bat in his home ballpark, putting the Rangers ahead, 6-4.8

Harrison returned to the mound in the top of the sixth, but singles by Beltré, José López, and Jamie Burke made it a 6-5 ballgame. Texas manager Ron Washington made a pitching change. Kameron Loe relieved Harrison and struck out Cairo to end the inning.

Seattle’s Sean Green had replaced Silva and recorded the final out of the fifth. The Rangers put their first two batters on base in the bottom of the sixth, but Green stranded them, retiring the next three in order.

The Mariners then shelled Texas’s bullpen to turn the one-run deficit into a comfortable lead. In the top of the seventh, Luis Mendoza replaced Loe. Betancourt doubled with one out and scored the tying run on Raúl Ibañez’s single. Beltré lined a double into the left-field corner, his fourth hit. Lopez was intentionally walked to load the bases, bringing up Balentien, who came into the game batting .193.

Seattle skipper Jim Riggleman9 called for Jeremy Reed to pinch-hit, and the move paid off. Reed grounded a two-run single up the middle. Kenji Johjima singled, putting runners on every base again, and Mendoza’s day was over. Josh Rupe took his turn on the mound. Burke’s sacrifice fly plated Lopez, and Seattle led 9-6.

In the eighth, Betancourt swung at Rupe’s first offering and homered to left, his fifth. After Ibañez singled, Beltré tripled into the right-center gap, completing the cycle with his fifth hit of the game. Two outs later, Tug Hulett10 singled, driving home Beltré for a 12-6 lead.

Seattle’s bullpen preserved the lead. Green pitched three scoreless innings, retiring eight Rangers batters in a row. Jake Woods and Justin Thomas11 combined to get the last four outs. The Mariners had their fourth win in a row, a season high.12 (They lost the final two games of the series in Arlington, on their way to 16 losses in 19 games. Seattle’s 101 losses in 2008 were the franchise’s most in 25 years.)

Beltré finished the game with a 5-for-6 performance,13 three runs batted in and five runs scored. He told reporters, “It’s been a tough year, but this feels good,”14 adding, “It’s pretty special. I’m proud of it.”15

What made Beltré’s feat more impressive is that he played the entire season with a torn ligament in his left thumb, making it difficult to close his hand on the bat with a heavily-taped thumb. He played in just nine more games after his cycle before shutting it down for the season in mid-September. He still hit 25 home runs, causing Seattle’s new general manager, Lee Pelekoudas, to remark, “You have to wonder what kind of season he would have had with a healthy thumb.”16

Beltré became just the fourth player in Seattle franchise history to hit for the cycle, joining Jay Buhner (June 23, 1993, against the Oakland Athletics), Álex Rodríguez (June 5, 1997, against the Detroit Tigers) and John Olerud (June 16, 2001, against the San Diego Padres).17

After spending 2009 in Seattle, Beltré agreed to a one-year contract with the Boston Red Sox. In Boston, he had his best season since leaving the Dodgers; he was named to his first All-Star team, received his second Silver Slugger, and finished ninth in the AL MVP voting.

Beltré then signed a six-year, $96 million contract with the Rangers, who repeated as AL champions in 2011, his first season in Arlington. In eight seasons with Texas, Beltré cemented his first-ballot selection for the National Baseball Hall of Fame – an honor he received in 2024 – and finished his career with 3,166 hits, the most of any major-league third baseman. His Rangers tenure included cycles in 2012 and 2015.18 All three of his cycles took place in the Rangers’ home ballpark.

Author’s Note

Arizona’s Stephen Drew also hit for the cycle on September 1, 2008, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. This marked only the second time in major-league history that two players hit for the cycle on the same day.19 (Minnesota’s Carlos Gómez, Atlanta’s Mark Kotsay and Washington’s Cristian Guzmán all hit for the cycle earlier in the 2008 season.)

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Madison McEntire and copy-edited by Len Levin. The author thanks John Fredland and Madison McEntire for their insights.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX200809010.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B09010TEX2008.htm

Notes

1 Beltre finished second to Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants in the 2004 NL MVP voting.

2 As evidence of this, Beltré batted .266 and slugged .457 for the 2008 season, but he hit only .240 and slugged just .400 in front of his home crowd. These 2008 overall numbers are well below his 2004 marks (.334 batting average, .629 slugging percentage, and 1.017 OPS).

3 On July 31, 2007, Harrison was traded from Atlanta with Beau Jones, Elvis Andrus, Neftalí Feliz, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the Rangers for Ron Mahay and Teixeira. The Braves, who were in third place in the NL East at the time of the deal, finished the 2007 season still in third.

4 Associated Press, “Mariners Secure Former Twins Pitcher Silva With Four-Year, $48M Deal,” ESPN.com, December 20, 2007, https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3163650.

5 Associated Press, “Rangers’ Saltalamacchia Out for Season with Injury,” El Paso (Texas) Times, September 3, 2008: 17. Saltalamacchia “threw from an awkward angle,” and after the throw to first, he fell to the ground in much pain. Doctors recommended that he rest his sore arm, so the second-year catcher missed the rest of the season. Fortunately for Saltalamacchia, there was no ligament damage.

6 Anthony Andro, “September Starts Just Like August Left Off,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 2, 2008: 5D. This was Teagarden’s third game in the majors, but his first two had been played in Minnesota. He had one hit in six at-bats in those two contests, but that hit was his first big-league home run (July 20). He returned to the majors when rosters were expanded.

7 This was Hamilton’s 118th RBI of the season, the most by any American League player to this point. Hamilton finished with 130 runs batted in, leading the league. (Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard drove in 146 runs to lead all major leaguers.)

8 This homer in Texas was his second home run of the season.

9 Riggleman debuted as the Seattle manager on June 20, replacing John McLaren, who had been fired on June 19. Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi had been fired on June 16.

10 Hulett entered the game as a pinch-runner for Johjima in the seventh.

11 This game marked Justin Thomas’s major-league debut.

12 This turned out to be the Mariners’ longest winning streak of 2008.

13 Beltré grounded out to short in the ninth inning. His homer, triple, and one of the singles came on 0-and-2 pitches. 

14 Larue, “M’s Have Fun in Texas Sun,” Olympian (Olympia, Washington), September 15, 2008: D4.

15 David Jimenez, “Beltre’s Cycle Helps Seattle to 12-6 Victory,” Longview (Washington) Daily News, September 2, 2008: 15.

16 Larry LaRue, “Disappointing Season for Beltre Comes to Early End,” Tacoma (Washington) News Tribune, September 15, 2008: C5. On September 18 Beltré underwent surgery on his thumb and left shoulder, expecting to have a four-to-five-month rehabilitation.

17 Buhner’s cycle required extra innings. As of the start of the 2024 season, Beltré remained the last Mariners player to have hit for the cycle.

18 Beltre hit for the cycle on August 24, 2012, and again on August 3, 2015, as a member of the Rangers.

19 On September 17, 1920, both George Burns (New York Giants) and Bobby Veach (Detroit Tigers) hit for the cycle, Burns against the Pirates and Veach against the Red Sox.