Fuentes slams his way to 1st career cycle

It’s not every day that you see someone hit for the cycle. It’s even rarer to see someone pick up the home run leg of the cycle with a grand slam.

So what Joshua Fuentes did on Thursday night was truly a feat to remember.

Fuentes went 4-for-4 with six RBIs in Triple-A Albuquerque’s 13-5 victory over Reno, four of those RBIs coming off his sixth-inning slam to complete the cycle. Prior to that, Fuentes tripled in the first inning, singled in the third, and doubled in the fifth.

Fuentes opened the season with the Rockies as their Opening Day starting third baseman, but he struggled to a .225/.257/.351 line with seven home runs in 284 plate appearances. The 28-year-old infielder was sent down to Albuquerque on July 29, and he was recalled to Colorado and optioned again several times in late August and early September.

Overall, Fuentes entered play on Friday hitting .278/.331/.519 with nine homers in 40 games for Albuquerque. Five of those nine homers have come in the last two weeks.

“Tonight, I was just thinking drive the ball up the middle,” Fuentes said after his cycle. “My first hit, the triple, I hit that opposite field, kind of deep, and I felt like I was kind of locked in at that point. And then, I got the single, and then after the double, I was definitely thinking cycle -- I’m like, I’ve gotta hit a homer here, I’ve gotta do something.”

Fuentes did something all right, and did so in grand fashion. It’ll be memorable for more than just the way he got it.

“It was my first cycle ever, in any baseball,” Fuentes said. “I’m gonna remember this for a while.”