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Oakland A’s slugger Lawrence Butler nearly made history on Tuesday by becoming the franchise’s first player since 2007 to hit for the cycle. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance.
The Astros pitched around Butler in his final at-bat, robbing him of an opportunity to close things out.
Butler, who entered the month of July hitting just .179 on the season, has been on an absolute heater over the last three weeks. He’s tallied at least one hit in 13 of 17 games to raise that average to .253. He’s also mashed eight of his 10 homers over the last 22 days.
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Across his last six contests, he’s been near unstoppable, hitting .600 with six consecutive multi-hit performances.
On Tuesday, he nearly had the night of his season.
Over his first four at-bats, Lawrence Butler notched a double, triple, and home run. He needed just a single to complete the cycle.
Having gotten the hard parts out of the way early, all eyes were on his final plate appearance as fans watched in anticipation. They’d leave disappointed.
Butler walked on five pitches as Houston pitched carefully to the lefty. They did so despite trailing 8-1 in the bottom of the eighth in a game that had already decided, more or less.
Butler could only smile as he watched the fourth ball sail wide of the strike zone, knowing the Astros wanted no part.
Fans, however, were livid.
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Boos rained down at The Oakland Coliseum as onlookers voiced their displeasure.
Lawrence Butler had the chance to become the first A’s batter to record a cycle since Mark Ellis did so in 2007. That drought is the longest in the AL West, and the third longest in the American League behind only the Tigers (2006) and Royals (1990).
Butler hoped to have an opportunity to end the steak. Houston didn’t give him the chance.