Orioles' Villar didn't know he hit for cycle: 'Nobody says anything'

Nobody was more stunned to see Baltimore Orioles shortstop Jonathan Villar complete a cycle on Monday night than the man himself.

Villar got the hard parts out of the way early. After he tripled in the third inning, the 28-year-old notched a double in the fifth, homered in the sixth, and then capped his special night with a ninth-inning single off New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman.

However, Villar said he was simply looking to get a rally started in the ninth - Baltimore trailed 9-6 at the time, eventually losing by that score - and had no idea there was a chance for the cycle until he arrived at first base.

"I never pay attention to that," Villar told Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun. "Everybody didn't say anything because when you say something, maybe you miss it. ... When the first base coach (Arnie Beyeler) told me, I was like, 'Really?'

"It's the same rule as when a pitcher throws a no-hitter. Nobody says anything."

Of course, once informed of the accomplishment, it all started to sink in for Villar, who received a standing ovation and was given the baseball as a memento.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "I'm very happy."

Villar's cycle was the fifth in Orioles history, joining Brooks Robinson (1960), Cal Ripken Jr. (1984), Aubrey Huff (2007), and Felix Pie (2009). It was also the fifth cycle of the 2019 MLB season.