Adrian Beltre hits for the cycle in spectacular fashion

Adrian Beltre had already hit for the cycle twice in his career, so Monday night he upped his personal degree of difficulty and joined an elite group of players in the process.

Beltre tripled in the first inning against the Houston Astros, doubled in the second inning, singled in the third, took a breather in the fourth and homered in the fifth. Four at-bats, cycle complete. He became the first player to hit for the cycle in five innings since the erstwhile B.J. Upton in 2009.

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Furthermore, Beltre put trivia on his résumé by completing that third cycle. He’s only the fourth player in MLB history to hit for three cycles and you’ve got to go waaaay back in history to find the others. There’s John Reilly (completed in 1890), Bob Meusel (1928) and Babe Herman (1933) — then there’s Beltre in 2015.

“I didn’t expect to hit a cycle around this age,” said Beltre, 36, after the Rangers’ 12-9 win over the Houston Astros.

Now that we’ve covered the historical context and Beltre’s spectacular performance on the field, we have to mention what happened in the dugout after the homer. Beltre trotted back in, was mobbed by his teammates and they, of course, tried to touch his head.

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Beltre hates having his head touched. And not in the way you say you hate “The Bachelor” or broccoli. He hates it in a way that fills him with rage. So his teammates — especially shortstop Elvis Andrus — like to pester him by doing it. He goes from jovial to MMA fighter every time.

The takeaway here: Even when you think he’ll be full of joy by etching his name in the MLB history books, it’s still not OK to touch Adrian Beltre’s head.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz