St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado. Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals' Nolan Arenado got favorable call while hitting for cycle

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 7/2/22

Nolan Arenado on Friday hit for the cycle in his St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, and he got a little help in the process.

Arenado got the tough part out of the way early by hitting an RBI triple in the first. Then he smacked a two-run homer in the third to put his Cardinals up 3-0. In the sixth, Arenado doubled.

That took us to the eighth inning, with Arenado needing a single for the cycle.

The Cardinals third baseman hit a hard ground ball to third that was bobbled by Matt Vierling, who threw way over the first baseman’s head. The scorekeeper ruled it an infield single and that Arenado advanced to second on an error.

Here is the play in question:

Scorekeeper is a real one. Nolan Arenado has hit for the cycle! pic.twitter.com/ifZNkYwQ0z

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 2, 2022

The ball was hit hard, but should an MLB third baseman be expected to make that play? Arenado certainly would be expected to make that play on defense.

“I knew it was a tough play at third. I knew I hit it hard … however they scored it, I was definitely OK with it,” Arenado said after the game.

Maybe he got the favorable call because the cycle was on the line.

Arenado is the first Cardinals player to hit for the cycle since Mark Grudzielanek in 2005. Arenado is also just one of three third basemen in MLB history to hit for multiple cycles in their career.

Nolan Arenado hits the first cycle by a Cardinals player since Mark Grudzielanek in 2005.

Arenado is 1 of 3 third basemen in MLB history to hit for the cycle multiple times, joining Adrián Beltré (3) and Ken Boyer (2). pic.twitter.com/dzN62zBuEP

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 2, 2022