gmj hits for the cycle

Gary Matthews Jr hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. Matthews led off the game with a single, doubled in the second inning, hit a triple in the fourth and led off the sixth with a 418-foot homer to left center. He also had a walk in the eighth. Some interesting facts...

• Matthews is the 19th switch hitter in major league history to hit for the cycle and just the second switch hitter to hit the cycle naturally (single, double, triple, homer in order).

• The last player to hit for the cycle in natural order was Brad Wilkerson, who did it on June 24, 2003 for Montreal.

• He is the third Rangers player to accomplish the feat, joining Mark Teixeira who did it on Aug. 17, 2004, against the Cleveland Indians and Oddibe McDowell on July 23, 1985, also against Cleveland.

• Matthews is only the 7th player ever to hit for the cycle in order in his first four at-bats.

• The last player to hit for the cycle against the Tigers was Seattle's Alex Rodriguez on June 5, 1997 at Tigers Stadium.