Barnes is latest JetHawk to cycle

After serving as Freddy Parejo's shadow for most of the day, Lancaster's Brandon Barnes hogged the spotlight Wednesday night in a 7-4 victory over the Visalia Rawhide.

Barnes hit for the cycle, beating out an infield hit in the bottom of the eighth inning to follow Parejo and become the second member of the JetHawks in as many games to accomplish the feat.

"From probably when we got to the clubhouse, I figured I'd do whatever he does," Barnes said of Parejo, who on Tuesday became the first JetHawk to hit for the cycle in nearly eight years. "Stretching, running, I asked him how many sprints he does. Whatever's he's going to do today, I'm gonna do."

Like Parejo, Barnes got the home run out of the way first. He followed Albert Cartwright's one-out solo shot in the first inning with his 11th of the season. The 25-year-old right fielder struck out in the third, but plated two runs with his second triple of the year in the fifth and led off the seventh with a double.

Cartwright made sure Barnes got a crack at deja vu by delivering a two-out two-run double in the eighth.

"To be honest, I was thinking about it," Barnes said. "I felt like I could hear everybody talking about it. I just tried to clear my mind and take a deep breath."

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound California native hit a slow roller to shortstop and just beat Brent Greer's throw for his fourth career four-hit game.

"I'm one of those guys, I like to hustle no matter what," Barnes said. "It was a changeup off the end of the bat. It was all instinct taking over. I don't think I've ever run that hard in my life.

"I didn't even know what to think. You don't ever see yourself doing something like that until it happens."

Asked about teammates hitting for the cycle on back-to-back nights, he said, "That's unheard of and pretty crazy."

The cycle was merely the latest "first" Barnes has accomplished this season. He hit the first walk-off homer of his career -- professional or otherwise -- on April 14 against Lake Elsinore.

"I'd never done that in my life, not in Little League or anything," said Barnes, the Astros' sixth-round pick in the 2005 Draft. "I never hit for the cycle in my life. I have a grand slam to work on now."