Turner hits for 3rd cycle
Trea Turner completed his record-tying third career cycle by hitting a sixth-inning triple for the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, accomplishing the feat on his 28th birthday in a 15-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The speedy shortstop became the fifth player in major league history with three cycles, joining Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel and John Reilly, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
He also scored four times in the victory, which sealed a two-game sweep as well as Washington’s fourth straight win and 14th in its last 17 games.
Turner singled in the first off Tampa Bay opener Drew Rasmussen, doubled in the third against Ryan Sherriff, then hit his 14th homer in the fourth off Michael Wacha.
Two innings later, Turner hit a ball into the right-field corner and beat second baseman Mike Brosseau’s throw to third with a headfirst slide.
Jon Lester allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out three and walking two.
National League
Brewers 15, Cubs 7 — Highly touted Milwaukee prospect Aaron Ashby got hammered for seven runs in the first inning of his big league debut, but Luis Urias homered twice as the Brewers rallied to rout Chicago for their eighth straight win.
The Brewers swept the three-game series and increased their NL Central lead to six games over Chicago. The Cubs lost their sixth in a row.
Willy Adames hit a grand slam during an eight-run burst in the fourth inning that put Milwaukee ahead 14-7. His error at shortstop helped the Cubs break loose at the start against Ashby.
Braves 20, Mets 2 — Ozzie Albies drove in seven runs with five hits, including two home runs, and Atlanta battered New York.
Austin Riley drove in three runs on three hits. Freddie Freeman had three hits and scored four runs.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ehire Adrianza also homered for the Braves.
Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 4— Kwang Hyun Kim won for the first time in 11 starts, pitching five solid innings and helping himself with a two-run double as St. Louis beat Arizona for a threegame sweep.
The Diamondbacks were swept for the 13th time this season.
Rockies 6, Pirates 2 — Jon Gray tossed six strong innings and Colorado beat Pittsburgh.
Garrett Hampson had four hits for the Rockies, who swept the three-game series and improved to 2816 at home. Colorado is 6-31 on the road.
American League
Tigers 9, Indians 4 — Harold Castro and Jonathan Schoop each drove in three runs, powering Detroit past Cleveland in the first game of a doubleheader.
Castro’s two-out single off Bryan Shaw in the fifth inning scored Nomar Mazara and broke a 4-4 tie. Schoop had a two-run single in the seventh as the Tigers banged out 15 hits in the seven-inning game.