Frye Pulls Up for Single, Gets Cycle

With the game in hand, Jeff Frye decided to pull up for the cycle instead of going for a double.

Frye became the second Toronto Blue Jay player to hit for the cycle and was one of four Blue Jays who homered against reliever Pat Mahomes on Friday night in the sixth inning of an 11-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Frye stopped at first base to complete the fourth major league cycle this season instead of continuing on for his second double of the game.

“I was hoping somebody would cut it off,” said Frye, who had a bicycle waiting for him when he got to his locker. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

After tripling in the second inning, doubling in the fifth and hitting a homerg in sixth, Frye lined a 3-and-2 pitch in the seventh from Texas’ Kevin Foster into the gap in right-center field, giving Toronto an 11-2 lead.

Frye decided not to take the sure extra base, electing to stay at first for a piece of baseball history, joining Kelly Gruber as the only Blue Jays to accomplish the feat.

First base coach Garth Iorg yelled at Frye to stop.

“I was looking at Garth and saying ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ “--and he goes ‘stop, stop!,’ ” Frye said. “And before I went up, I asked Cito Gaston what do I do if I hit a ball like that, and he said stay at first. Tell them I told you to. So if he says it’s all right, it’s all right.”

Blue Jay Manager Buck Martinez didn’t have a problem with it either.

“He’s such a professional, he didn’t know if it was appropriate to stop at that point, but the game was pretty one-sided,” Martinez said. “It’s a pretty unique opportunity to play nine years and have a chance for a cycle. I don’t have any problems with it, and I don’t think anybody in the ballpark did.”