Adrian Beltre Hits for Cycle as Texas Downs Houston; Yoenis Cespedes Provides Power as Mets Take First in NL East

Players of the Day for Monday, August 3, 2015

Beltre's 3rd Career cycle

American League

Life in the AL West is beginning to get a little more interesting, especially after the barrage of 28 hits resulted in a 12-9 Rangers win over visiting Houston Monday.

The Rangers got their runs on the board early, scoring six in the first inning - all off Houston starter Lance McCullers, who got just one out before heading to the shower - and five more in the third.

In the middle of it all was Adrian Beltre, who hit for the cycle, getting all four needed hits by the fifth inning, when he homered, completing his amazing, third career cycle.

espn.com reports:

The last major leaguer with three career cycles was Babe Herman, who had two in 1931 and one in 1933, according to research provided by the Elias Sports Bureau to the Rangers. The only other big leaguers with three career cycles are Bob Meusel (1921, 1922 and 1928) and John Reilly (twice in 1883 and 1890).

Beltre's triple in the first got the Rangers going. He doubled in the second and singled in the third before his fifth-inning blast, finishing a 4-for-5 night with four RBI and two runs. His homer was his ninth of the season.

The victory moved Texas to within seven games of first-place Houston and one game below .500 (52-53). The Angels hold second place, three games out.

Houston and Texas continue play with the second of their three-game series at Arlington, Tuesday, at 8:05 pm EDT.

National League

Cespedes: 3 2B, 4 RBI

Followers of Mets baseball have to be ecstatic over recent developments.

After getting Yoenis Cespedes prior to the trade deadline, the Mets have caught fire again, winning four straight, including Monday's 12-1 water-boarding of the Marlins in the opener of their three-game series in Miami.

Over the weekend, New York took three straight from the Nationals, tying for the lead in the NL East. Coupled with the Nats' 6-4 loss to Arizona on Monday, the Mets find themselves in sole possession of first place in the division, one game up on the Nationals.

Bartolo Colon had one of his best outings of the year, allowing one run on seven hits over eight innings. while Cespedes provided the kind of offense the Mets were seeking when they traded for him, getting the slugger from the slumping Tigers.

In the three games since joining the Mets, Cespedes has yet to homer, but he did deliver a trio of doubles in Monday's victory, driving in four runs, scoring twice.

For the season - slit between New York and Detroit - Cespedes is having himself a banner year, batting .294 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI. While he will probably be among the MLB leaders in RBI this season, because he's split his time between leagues, he won't qualify for any league leadership.

The Mets should be satisfied, however. They traded for, and, apparently, have gotten the big bat needed in the middle of the order, and already, they've taken first place away from Washington.

The Mets continue their series in Miami Tuesday night at 7:10 pm EDT.