Mookie Betts adds cycle to already stellar 2018 season

Mookie Betts added to his MVP-like credentials on Thursday, becoming the first Red Sox player to hit for the cycle since 2015.

The incredible 2018 season of Mookie Betts got even better Thursday as the Red Sox right fielder hit for the cycle for the first time in his career.

Betts sent a Ken Giles pitch into the left field bullpen in the ninth inning of Boston’s 8-5 loss in Toronto to become the 21st Red Sox player to complete the cycle.

He led off the game with a single off Blue Jays starter Ryan Borucki, then added a triple in the second when center fielder Kevin Pillar attempted a leaping catch at the wall, but was unable to come up with it. He doubled off the left-field wall in the fourth.

Betts finished the game 4-for-4 with an RBI and a walk, increasing his MLB-leading batting average to .347. The home run was his 27th of the season.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora says he is no longer surprised by anything Betts does on a baseball field.

"“You expect greatness from him every night,” he told NESN after the game.“He crushed that ball. That’s cool to see. He got on base five times. He’s been amazing.”"

The first teammate to meet Betts in the Boston dugout after the homer was Brock Holt, who was the last Boston player to hit for the cycle back in 2015. In the game Holt did it, Betts had a single, double and triple, but came up a home run shy of matching the feat.

Betts’ cycle is the 320nd in Major League Baseball history and the first of this season. The last time there wasn’t a cycle hit in a season was 1983.

Although Boston (81-35) lost the game, they are still on pace for the best record in franchise history and have an eight-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Starter Rick Porcello gave up seven runs in four innings as the Red Sox’s six-game winning streak came to an end.