Milwaukee • Christian Yelich became the first major leaguer to hit for the cycle twice in one season against the same team, driving in four runs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers over the Cincinnati Reds 8-0 on Monday night.
Less than three weeks after his cycle in Cincinnati, the streaking slugger accomplished the feat against the last-place Reds once again to help the Brewers in their playoff pursuit. Milwaukee began the night 2½ games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central but with a three-game lead in the wild-card race.
Yelich singled in the first inning, doubled in the second, launched a two-run homer in the fifth and completed the cycle when he added a two-run triple in the sixth. With the Brewers nursing a large lead, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
Yelich’s huge second half has turned him into a top contender for the NL MVP award. He also hit for the cycle when he went 6 for 6 in a 13-12 comeback victory on Aug. 29 at Cincinnati, making him the fifth player to turn the trick twice in one season — and first in Brewers history.
He is the first major leaguer to do it twice in one year against the same team.
The previous player with two cycles in one season was Aaron Hill in 2012.
Yelich put the Brewers up 4-0 in the fifth, following a walk to Curtis Granderson with his 31st homer.
Domingo Santana, who hit 30 homers last year for the Brewers but spent most of this season at Triple-A, opened the fifth with his second pinch-hit home run in two games.
Wade Miley (5-2) labored through five innings and allowed five hits.
Cardinals 11, Braves 6 • In Atlanta, Kolten Wong hit the first of four St. Louis homers, Miles Mikolas won his third straight start, and the Cardinals beat the NL East-leading Braves to give their playoff push another boost. St. Louis has 35 victories since the All-Star break, most in the National League, and has won two straight after losing four in a row. The Braves took a third consecutive loss after winning a season-best six straight games.
Mariners 4, Astros 1 • In Houston, rookie pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach’s first career grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning lifted Seattle over the Astros. The loss cut Houston’s lead in the AL West to four games over Oakland, which was off Monday night. Marwin Gonzalez had an RBI double to give the Astros the lead in the fourth, but they couldn’t muster much else on a night they managed just three hits.
Mets 9, Phillies 4 • In Philadelphia, Michael Conforto had a career-high six RBIs and finished a triple shy of the cycle, Zach Wheeler pitched seven solid innings for his career-best 12th win and New York beat the fading Phillies, who have lost 8 of 11. The Mets have won 7 of 11 and are 26-17 over their last 43 games.
Twins 6, Tigers 1 • In Detroit, Kohl Stewart pitched six solid innings for Minnesota, and Eddie Rosario homered before leaving with an injury in the Twins’ victory over the Tigers. Gabriel Moya pitched the opening inning for Minnesota before Stewart (2-1) took over and worked through the seventh. He allowed an unearned run and three hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Blue Jays 5, Orioles 0 • In Baltimore, the Orioles lost their 107th game, tied for most in a season since their arrival in 1954, falling to Toronto. Rookie Ryan Borucki pitched eight innings of three-hit ball for the Blue Jays, who have won 13 of 17 games between the two bottom teams in the AL East.
Pirates 7, Royals 6 • In Pittsburgh, rookie Jacob Stallings hit a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally the Pirates over Kansas City. After Jordan Luplow grounded into a double play, Kevin Kramer walked and moved to second on Kevin Newman’s single. Stallings then singled into left field off Ben Lively (0-3), scoring Kramer.
Rays 3, Rangers 0 • In Arlington, Texas, Tyler Glasnow allowed two infield singles in six innings for his first win since Tampa Bay traded Chris Archer to get the right-hander, and the Rays beat the Rangers. Ji-Man Choi connected for his 10th homer , a solo shot, and drove in two runs to help the Rays improve to a major league-best 21-5 since Aug. 19.
Marlins 8, Nationals 5 • In Miami, Nationals reliever Wander Suero balked in a run while Washington blew a four-run lead, and the Marlins rallied for a victory. Washington led 4-0 after 41/2 innings but trailed by the end of the sixth. Suero let in the go-ahead run, balking with pinch-hitter Rafael Ortega batting and Austin Dean at third base to put Miami ahead 5-4.