Adrian Beltre Hits 2nd Cycle of His Career vs. Twins

Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre recorded the first cycle of his career against Matt Harrison when he was with the Seattle Mariners in 2008.

This time, with Harrison pitching on his side, Beltre did all he could to help the hurler out.

Beltre hit the second cycle of his career against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, per Ben Goessling of the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

"

Second cycle of Beltre's career -- first one was against the Rangers while Beltre was with the Mariners. Had three hits off Matt Harrison.

— Ben Goessling (@BenGoesslingPP) August 25, 2012"

Beltre started things off with a run-scoring triple in the first inning, doubled in the second, homered in the fifth and singled in the seventh.

After Friday's game, Beltre is now hitting .316 with 24 home runs, 77 RBI and 73 runs for the Rangers, who lead the AL West and have scored the most runs in baseball. 

The three-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner hit .296 with 32 home runs, 105 RBI and 82 runs in his first campaign with the Rangers last season, when they made it to the World Series for the second year in a row.

After struggling a bit in July (.258 average), Beltre has gotten back to smashing the baseball in August, hitting .305 with five home runs, 13 RBI and 15 runs heading into Friday's game.

The Rangers are 74-51 this season, currently six games ahead of the Oakland Athletics in the AL West. Before Friday's matchup with the Twins, they had outscored opponents by 100 runs over the course of the season.

Beltre, who has been batting in the cleanup spot for most of the season, has been a vital part of Texas' dangerous offense, and that showed against the Twins on Friday.