The Chicago Cubs spoiled the Athletics “home” game in Sacramento Monday night with an 18-3 win. In the first home game, the Athletics played away from Oakland, they were unable to stop the Chicago Cubs hitters from taking advantage of the small new home ballpark for the A’s at Sutter Health Park. One of the hitters who had an especially good performance was Carson Kelly. Kelly hit for the cycle, making him the first Chicago Cub to hit for the cycle since Mark Grace. He did it for the “Lovable Losers” in 1993.
Kelly, in his first season, and third game with the Chicago Cubs, became the first catcher to hit for the cycle since JT Realmuto in 2023. He is the 18th backstop in MLB history to accomplish the feat. What makes it all the more impressive is that Kelly didn’t get started on his path to the cycle until the fifth inning. After notching the single, double, and home run, it was a misplayed ball in center field on a liner to the wall in the eighth inning that allowed Kelly to motor over to third base to complete the cycle. On his way to the rare accomplishment, Kelly drove in five of Chicago’s 18 runs.
Carson Kelly Hits For Cycle in 18-3 Laugher
The Chicago Cubs annihilated the Athletics 18-3 Monday night in the first game of their three-game series. After the Cubs put 11 runs on the board between the fifth and sixth innings at the new home for the A’s, Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, the focus of the game shifted to Kelly and his quest for the hallowed cycle.
Kelly launched a T.J. McFarland fastball out to deep center field. As the ball carried out towards the wall it began to list to the right and out of the reach of Center Fielder JJ Bleday. The ball escaped Bleday’s stab and bounced off the bottom of the wall, careening back towards center field as Bleday blew by towards right field. The Chicago Cubs catcher, not known for being fleet of foot, chugged around second base and rumbled into third base as the relay came into the bag. Kelly made it in safely and the Chicago Cubs victory that had been all but secured now had a new wrinkle.
Kelly’s cycle marked one of the bigger achievements in his big league career. The former top prospect has been a serviceable backstop in his decade-long career. After rising through the minors in the Chicago Cubs’ rival St. Louis Cardinals farm system, he was a part of the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt to the Red Birds.
After leaving Arizona in 2022, Kelly has played with Detroit and Texas. This offseason he signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. For his career he has hit .226 with a .310 OBP, hitting 55 home runs, and driving in 212 runs while slugging .378 with a .687 OPS in 559 games.
Final Thoughts
The Kelly cycle is a nice footnote for this team in the early days of the 2025 regular season. For a newly-acquired player to acclimate himself to a playoff contender like this is a nice storyline that can help boost morale for a ball club that has struggled to get out of the gate. This team needed a feel-good story after Sunday afternoon’s collapse in Arizona and Kelly’s feat Monday night provided that. Hopefully, this is a sign that Kelly can be a serviceable bat off the bench for Craig Counsell this year. Kelly will look to earn the two-year contract that he signed this offseason.
Hopefully Kelly and the Chicago Cubs can use this as a launching pad for the next couple of weeks. After stumbling out of the gate against the World Series champion Dodgers, this team hasn’t yet made it out of Spring Training. With an 18-run outburst against the A’s, the offense now has a frame of reference for what they are capable of doing. Even if it happened against a substandard team in Sacramento. Regardless, Kelly’s cycle and the blowout win were very entertaining ways to christen Sutter Health Park in the club’s first home game outside of Oakland.
