MIAMI — First baseman Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle Wednesday in Miami, further etching his name into the Braves’ record books.
Freeman is the seventh player in franchise history to hit for the cycle and the first in Atlanta Braves history to do so multiple times. Freeman also hit for the cycle on June 15, 2016, against the Reds. Wednesday was the first time a Braves player hit for the cycle since that day.
Freeman joined Herman Long as the only players in franchise history to record multiple cycles. Long did so in 1896 and 1900.
“It’s so hard to even like put into words,” Freeman said. “To get four hits in any one game is just amazing in itself. It was a special night. These are the nights that everything just comes together. It just becomes one of those memories that I’ll be able to tell my grandkids and hopefully great grandkids that I was able to do something that very, very rare multiple times. It makes me speechless.”
It took Freeman only six innings to achieve the feat. He doubled in the first inning, tripled in the fourth and singled in the fifth. He completed the cycle with a two-run homer to center that extended the Braves’ lead to 7-2. It was Freeman’s 27th homer.
“I was telling (shortstop) Dansby (Swanson) in there, ‘This guy’s good enough to go up there and hit a home run right now,’” manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s how special he is. And he hit it to the deepest part of the park.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Freeman became the third player to hit for the cycle against the Marlins, joining the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger and the Rockies’ Todd Helton.
The Braves defeated the Marlins 11-9 to complete the sweep. They’ve started their nine-game road trip 6-0 and moved to nine games above .500, strengthening their hold on first place in the National League East.
At the conclusion of his post-game Zoom conference with reporters, Freeman thanked his wife Chelsea, giving her credit for his career night.
“My wife, we had breakfast this morning and we had two cappuccinos delivered and she chose the cappuccino, she handed it to me and said, ‘This is the one that has a lot of hits in it,’” Freeman said. “So I have to give this one up to my wife Chelsea. Because if it wasn’t for the right cappuccino pick, I wouldn’t be here talking to you guys.”
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