Moniak again comes up single shy in bid for cycle history at Coors

DENVER -- Mickey Moniak isn’t going to let a single -- rather, the lack thereof -- ruin a special night.

“I’ll take three hits with a double, triple and a homer any day,” Moniak said. “So, no. I wouldn’t say it’s a bummer.”

Moniak homered, doubled and tripled in his first three at-bats for the Rockies in a 6-3 victory over the Marlins on Wednesday night at Coors Field. But for the second time this season, the single that would have completed the cycle never came.

On his 28th birthday, Moniak also finished a single shy in a 10-4 Rockies victory over the Pirates on May 13 at PNC Park.

Moniak’s first three hits came off Marlins starter Max Meyer, who absorbed his first loss of 2026. But in the seventh against Tyler Zuber, Moniak flied out to short left field near the foul line.

“I was trying to go deep,” Moniak said. “The single, obviously, is cool -- hitting for the cycle. But if I was going up there to try to hit a single, I probably would have struck out.”

Moniak’s first-inning solo shot to center field off Meyer was his 14th homer of the season, and his second in as many games. If the homer on Tuesday was a signal that Moniak was pulling out of a recent slump, call Wednesday’s 434-foot drive a confirmation.

“You want to do things with good results to boost the confidence a little bit,” Moniak said. “Honestly, the biggest takeaway from yesterday, aside from the home run, was just my takes -- working good at-bats, feeling like I was in control in the box. That carried over into tonight.”

Moniak’s hot start to the season was interrupted by a right ankle injury that he sustained in Pittsburgh on May 12, the night before his other near-cycle. He played through it for eight games, sat out a month, then returned on June 22 still trying to eliminate the key bad habit (not landing solidly on his right foot at the end of his stride) that he developed while trying to play through the injury.

So the swing and pitch selection Moniak has shown in the last two games are consistent with what he has done for the Rockies since being signed just before Opening Day of last season.

“That’s what we’ve seen from Mickey all year,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s fresh off the injured list, so he’s finding his way back. He’s finding his timing back.”

Thus continues the emergence of Moniak, who went to the Phillies as the 2016 first overall pick out of La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif., and alternately thrived and struggled with the Phillies before finding a home with the Rockies.

“He was first overall for a reason, so it's probably never been a thing of talent,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “Sometimes guys take a circuitous route to finding a place that they settle into and a part in their career, and it seems like he's found a place here in Denver that he's comfortable in. He certainly swings the bat very well in this ballpark, and he was a big factor for them this evening.”

The two-run triple gave the Rockies a 3-2 lead, then Hunter Goodman drove Moniak home with his 27th home run of the season, tying Hall of Famer Larry Walker (2001) for most homers in the team’s first 87 games of a season. Kyle Karros’ solo homer off Zuber in the seventh completed a night of good offensive plans -- especially against Meyer. The Rockies also gave lefty pitcher Kyle Freeland (five innings, two runs) his first win since April 7.

“That was gigantic,” Moniak said. “Kyle’s been doing it here for 10 years now, and he means the world to this organization. I know he means the world to this city. I’d say his last five or so starts, he’s been back to his former self.”

Had Moniak completed the cycle, it would have not only been the 10th cycle in Rockies history, but it would have put Coors Field alone in MLB history as the ballpark that has hosted the most cycles. Instead, Coors, which opened in 1995, and Fenway Park, which opened in 1912, are tied at 18.