Trea Turner ties major-league record with third career cycle on his birthday

Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner completed his third career cycle against the Tampa Bay Rays, tying the MLB record.

Trea Turner is the master of the cycle. So it’s only natural he gifted himself one on his birthday.

The Nationals shortstop hit for the cycle for the third time in his career on Wednesday while facing the Rays. He just turned 28 to boot.

He did it in four at-bats, starting with a single in the first, a double in the third, a home run in the fourth, then finally a triple to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

Along with the cycle, Turner had two stolen bases, scored four runs and had one RBI.

You could call that a productive day.

Trae Turner is tied for the MLB record with three career cycles

Turner now joins a small group of players who have hit for the cycle three times in their careers. The list includes Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel and John Reilly. Turner and Beltre are the only players this century to achieve the feat.

Turner is also the first player to hit for the cycle this season. In fact, he’s the first player to do it in over a year. The last cycle hitter before Wednesday was Cavan Biggio of the Blue Jays on Sept. 17, 2019.

The first cycle of Turner’s career was on Apr. 25, 2017 against the Rockies. He repeated the feat on July 23, 2019, also against the Rockies.

Who could be the next player to join Turner and the others? Brock Holt of the Rangers and Christian Yelich of the Brewers are the only other active players with two cycles in their careers.

Going into Wednesday’s game with the Rays, Turner was hitting .310/.359/.487. He’s now leading the NL with 18 stolen bases while boosting his home run total to 14.