Wilkerson Completes a Full Cycle

Left fielder Brad Wilkerson put together Le Carrousel in order.

Wilkerson became the fifth Montreal player to hit for the cycle, going four for four with four runs batted in to lead the Expos over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4, Tuesday.

“It’s just something you dream of doing as a big league ballplayer,” Wilkerson said.

He bunted for a single in the second, hit a one-hop double off the right-field wall in the fifth, and put Montreal ahead, 2-1, with a two-run triple in the sixth.

In the seventh, Wilkerson drove Salomon Torres’ 1-and-2 pitch over the center-field wall to become the first Expo to hit for the cycle since Rondell White did it against San Francisco on June 11, 1995.

“I wasn’t thinking about hitting a home run,” Wilkerson said. “It was in the back of my mind, I guess -- I would be lying to you if I said otherwise, but I was just trying to get the head [of the bat] out and hopefully get a pitch that I could drive in the gap and get up in the air.”

It was the first cycle in the majors this season and the first time the feat was performed in sequence -- single, double, triple and homer -- since the Chicago White Sox’s Jose Valentin did it in five at-bats against Baltimore on April 27, 2000.

Wilkerson’s cycle prompted a profanity-filled tirade by Pirate Manager Lloyd McClendon in front of reporters after the game. McClendon blamed his players for losing a game he believed starter Jeff D’Amico pitched well enough to win.

“Sometimes the onus has got to be on them,” McClendon said.

He brought the session with reporters to an abrupt end, storming out after clearing his desktop with a sweeping backhand that sent a file tray and papers flying against his office wall.

D’Amico (5-8) gave up two unearned runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Tomo Ohka (6-7) gave up four hits and one run in six innings to help the Expos win for the fourth time in six games.