ATLANTA -- Trea Turner has been candid about wanting to be the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle four times ... but just how far is he willing to go to make that happen?
Well, we nearly found out on Friday night.
Needing a triple to become the founding member of the four-cycle club, Turner stepped into the box to lead off the ninth inning. With the Phillies routing the Braves in what was ultimately a 13-0 victory, Atlanta had turned to outfielder Luke Williams to pitch the final frame.
Now, Turner has admitted multiple times to thinking about the cycle when he's only one leg away. The most recent time came on May 19 when he finished just a homer shy -- at Coors Field of all places -- and finished the game stranded in the on-deck circle.
But on Friday night, Turner got his chance to complete it, after hitting a double in the first inning, a homer in the second and a single in the fourth.
So, what was his plan?
"A lot of things were going through my head," Turner said. "I was trying to hit a line drive down the right-field line on the first two pitches."
He took the first pitch -- a 54.4 mph eephus -- for a called strike. Williams cranked the next offering up to 61.3 mph, which Turner ripped down the right-field line -- but well foul.
"Once I got to two strikes I was like, 'All right, I just don't want to strike out,'" Turner said.
The third pitch dipped to 52.4 mph, but it was so far in off the plate that Turner thought he got jammed when he sent a high fly ball to left field. He jogged out of the box initially, but as he saw left fielder Alex Verdugo tracking back closer and closer to the wall, Turner had yet another thought.
"I saw Verdugo running and I was like, 'Man, if this hits off the wall and I'm just at first base, I'm going to be really pissed at myself,'" Turner said. "So I started sprinting. I wasn't watching the ball, and then ... it goes over the fence."
Verdugo tracked it all the way and made a leaping attempt, but the ball just narrowly cleared the wall. Had it stayed in the park and gone off the wall, Turner easily could have had the triple he desperately wanted.
Instead, he had his second home run of the night to go along with a single and a double.
The elusive fourth cycle would have to wait ... or would it?
Turner had one last thought during his 360-foot trot around the bases, albeit perhaps a moment too late.
"After I touched home plate -- and this thought never crossed my mind before that," Turner said, "but you know, the thought of missing the plate -- I think that'd be a triple."
Indeed it would be. And Turner would have been all alone with four cycles.
"It would have been probably the most selfish thing to do in the history of baseball," he said with a laugh. "But, you know, a lot of thoughts going through my head right there."