[tm1681]

BRITTON GOES CYCLING ON THE MAINE COASTLINE
PORTLAND LF & LEADOFF MAN COMPLETES BASEBALL’S 1ST CYCLE IN THREE YEARS

PORTLAND, ME. (May 16, 1874) - New England favorites Portland hosted Green Mountain for the fourth game of their Week One series on Saturday, and the result was a blowout victory by the home team:

Portland scored all fourteen of their runs over the first six innings, meaning the result was never an issue. As part of that, leadoff man Hiram Britton pulled off a feat not seen anywhere in baseball for nearly three years:

• B1: Leadoff Double to LF off P. Davis (R)
• B2: 1-run Single past 1B off P. Davis
• B3: Line Out to SS (end inning)
• B5: Leadoff Triple to RF off D. Sheehan (R)
• B6: 3-RUN HOME RUN to RCF off D. Sheehan (R)
• B8: Reached via Error by 2B D. George
• TOTAL: 4/6, CYCLE, 3 R, 4 RBI, 10 TB

Britton’s accomplishment was the fifteenth Cycle in NBBO & baseball history, and the first since Newark’s James Wilkerson & Maryland’s Herb Verrett hit Cycles on consecutive days during a series between the two teams in Baltimore on July 13 & 14 of 1871.

Portland has won three of the four games so far in the season-opening series, with the final contest at King Field set to begin at 1:05 PM on Sunday afternoon.