Dixon plates nine during second career cycle

Go ahead and feel free to file this under, "Things you probably won't ever see again."

Brandon Dixon didn't just hit for the cycle for the second time in his career Wednesday. The Padres farmhand needed just five innings to complete the milestone while homering in his fourth straight game. He finished the evening with five knocks and a career-high nine RBIs to power Double-A San Antonio's 20-15 comeback victory over Northwest Arkansas at Arvest Ballpark.

To dig a little deeper into the magnitude of the performance, the home run Dixon belted was a grand slam. He also reached base in all seven of his plate appearances with a four-pitch walk in the third inning and a fielder's choice in the seventh. Oh, and he did this in just his fourth game back with the Missions after missing more than three months with an injury suffered on April 27.

"Things just kind of worked out, so it was a nice night for sure," Dixon said. "Just to get four hits is a nice night, but to do more than that and add on all those RBIs is always fun. But to be honest, I tried not to let any of that matter and just take care of business. For me right now, it's just about getting at-bats because I haven't played in a while. So it was nice to get seven plate appearances and to get my rhythm and everything going."

A double, GRAND SLAM, triple, and a single!!! Brandon Dixon hits for the cycle!

The last Missions player to hit for the cycle was Trent Grisham during the 2019 season. pic.twitter.com/YP0p82N8n2

— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) August 18, 2022

In a game that contained 35 runs on 31 hits and six errors with 12 hurlers throwing 420 pitches, Dixon stole the show.

The 30-year-old laced a two-out double to left on a 2-0 fastball from Naturals starter Dante Biasi in the opening frame. It was the first knock of the game for the Missions.

After falling behind after the first, 5-0, Dixon was at the forefront of a six-run rally for San Antonio in the second. The Arizona product faced the left-hander again, this time with the bases loaded, and unloaded on his ninth dinger of the year. The slam knotted the score at five apiece, and the Missions never trailed again after that point.

After his walk in the third, Dixon had another opportunity with the bases loaded in the fourth. With two outs, facing right-handed reliever Nathan Webb, the 2013 third-round Draft selection hammered an 0-1 high fastball into the gap in center that made it to the wall as he motored around the bases for his second triple of the season.

And as he stood on third, he received a message from Naturals third baseman Jake Means that genuinely surprised him.

"I hadn't thought about it at all, it was still super early in the game, but after I hit that triple, [Means] told me I was a single away from a cycle and that's when I was like, 'Oh, yeah,'" Dixon said.

He didn't waste any time reaching the milestone. In his next trip to the plate, Dixon lined an RBI single into center off Webb in the fifth. He became the eighth Missions player in history to hit for the cycle and the first since Trent Grisham on July 30, 2019.

"It was kind of crazy. I'm only a few games back from my rehab, I only played one game in Arizona, so I had a lot of time off. To have five trips to the plate at that point, and there's still half the game left, I was pretty sore and tired already," Dixon said. "At that point, it's kind of a blowout and it just starts to get like, 'OK, let's move this game along.'"

But the native of La Jolla, California, never had the chance to sit after an at-bat. After reaching first on a fielder's choice in the seventh, Dixon capped his night by legging out an RBI infield single to second with two outs in the eighth. He became the fourth player in franchise history to drive in nine runs in a game, tying the franchise record.

In 17 games with San Antonio before his injury, Dixon posted a .318/.397/.621 slash line with five homers, a triple, three doubles, 23 RBIs and 13 runs scored. After going 2-for-3 with two runs in a one-game rehab stint in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League on Aug. 11, Dixon has hit safely in all four games since returning to the Missions. He's 9-for-15 with four long balls, a triple, a pair of doubles, 15 RBIs and four runs.

"It's nice to come back and see some success right away," Dixon said. "Definitely didn’t get much at-bats in Arizona before coming back, but to come back and feel good and just get right back into it feels good. It's a nice little confidence boost especially after it's been a while. The game still feels a little weird, but it's nice to get rolling like that."

It marked the second time in Dixon's pro career that he hit for the cycle. He also accomplished the feat while playing for the Triple-A Louisville Bats on July 17, 2018.