Top Moments of the 2017 Season: Wil Myers First Career Cycle
The history of the San Diego Padres has only witnessed two cycles, both coming at the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Matt Kemp ended the long, 46-year drought, when he hit for the team’s first cycle on August 15th, 2015. Wil Myers was able to hit for the second cycle in Padres history on April 10th, 2017 which put his name into the Padres’ record book as well.
It was a Monday night game and just a little over twenty thousand people were in attendance on this historic night for the San Diego Padres. The Padres were playing the Rockies for the first time in 2017.
Jarred Cosart was on the hill for the Padres and Tyler Chatwood was scheduled to pitch for the Rockies.
Wil Myers began his special night in the 1st inning, when he came to the plate and hit a single to Rockies’ right fielder Carlos Gonzalez. In Wil’s next at bat, which came in the third inning, he laced an RBI double that rolled to the left field wall, scoring Manuel Margot from second base.
Myers came into this game with a lifetime batting average of .323/.378/.600 with five home runs in 16 career games at Coors Field. Wil Myers started off going 2 for 2, and never looked back in this one.
Jarred Cosart had a solid start filling in for the injured Trevor Cahill, giving up zero runs in four innings pitched while inducing three double plays against the explosive Colorado Rockies’ offense. Tyler Chatwood was still in the game for the Colorado Rockies when Wil came to the plate in the top of the sixth inning with the Padres leading 1-0. Wil Myers began the sixth inning hammering a high 95 mph fastball over the right field fence, landing in the Rockies bullpen, giving the Padres a 2-0 lead. He managed to find solid contact with the ball and used his strength, plus the thin air in Colorado, to assist in his third home run of the season.
Heading into the 8th inning, the Padres stretched their lead over the Rockies to 4-1 and Carlos Estevez was now into the game to pitch for Colorado. Wil Myers came to the plate for his fourth at bat with the chance to do something special. At this point of the game, Wil knew what he needed to complete the cycle, but that wasn’t his main focus. He came to the plate looking for something that he could drive into a gap and hit somewhere into the outfield.
It was an 0-2 count and Estevez threw Myers a fastball that he crushed into the left center gap past the Rockies outfielders, where it dropped and rolled all the way to the wall. Myers came flying out of the batter’s box knowing that he might have a chance to make it to third base.
Wil rounded first and then turned on the jets before stumbling around second, and finally making it into third base safely without a slide. In his head, Myers was screaming “three!” “three!” because he knew there was nothing stopping him from touching third base. In the booth and on the Fox Sports San Diego broadcast, Mark Grant sounded ecstatic, yelling “Go! Go!” “Gotta Go!” as Wil was rounding second and then “that’s awesome that just happened!!! “Congratulations Wil Myers” as he touched third base for the cycle. This moment had Mark Grant, Don Orsillo, and Jesse Agler fired up in the booth and Padres fans cheering as they had just witnessed the second cycle in the history of the San Diego Padres.
Myers ended the night going 4-4, hitting for the cycle, driving in two runs, and scoring two.
This was a memorable night for Mr. Myers, at one of his favorite parks to hit in. Wil’s special night was enough for the San Diego Padres, as they won the game 5-3. Padres’ reliever Miguel Diaz got the win after he pitched a perfect 5th inning, while Tyler Chatwood ended with seven strikeouts, four earned runs, and four walks in five and 1/3 innings, taking the loss.
This was a top moment for San Diego Padre fans and one of the best moments of the 2017 season. Hopefully, the first cycle in Wil Myers’ young career won’t be the only one.
A native of Newport Beach, California, Brett has a passion for San Diego sports and America’s Finest City. He graduated from Drew University in Madison, NJ in 2020 where he majored in Computer Science and minored in Business Studies. Brett is patiently waiting on the Padres first World Series championship and will be bringing you insight and knowledge on the Padres, Aztecs and Toreros.