Lindsey hits for the cycle for Owlz

Given the choice to stay upright or dirty his pants nearing third base, Taylor Lindsey chose the latter. The significance of his seventh-inning triple on Saturday night offset any additional cost for laundry detergent on Sunday morning.

The Angels prospect went 5-for-5 and became the first member of the Owlz to hit for the cycle in nearly four years as Orem cruised to a 9-6 victory over the Ogden Raptors.

Lindsey is the third Pioneer League player to accomplish the feat this season, following Casper's David Kandilas (June 24) and Helena's Yadiel Rivera (July 18). Andrew Romine was the last member of the Owlz to hit for the cycle when he victimized Ogden on Sept. 7, 2007.

"It's amazing," the 2010 first-round pick said. "I never thought this would happen. I had my shot in high school to get it, but doing it in pro ball is even better."

Lindsey lifted a changeup for a leadoff homer in the first inning, doubled in the second, smacked a run-scoring infield single in the third and -- after another single in the fifth -- delivered an RBI triple in the seventh.

"It was on my mind the whole game. I was just looking for a good pitch to hit it into the gap and just run," he said of the cycle-capping extra-base hit. "It was a standing-up triple, but I decided to slide anyways."

The former Arizona prep star accomplished three-quarters of the cycle against Raptors starter Raydel Sanchez (3-4), who allowed seven runs -- five earned -- on nine hits over 2 1/3 innings.

"I faced him before," said Lindsey, who has 22 hits in his last 36 at-bats against Ogden. "He throws me a lot of off-speed [pitches] and the fastball away, so against him I just try to pick up his off-speed good, which I did, and that helped me out a lot tonight."

Lindsey's five hits are a career high. On three occasions this season, including two games in a three-day span vs. the Raptors, he collected four knocks in five at-bats.

The 19-year-old second baseman is no stranger to rare feats. On June 21 against Casper, he tied a Pioneer League record by scoring six runs.

Through six games this month, Lindsey is batting .419 with 10 RBIs -- he had 11 RBIs in all of July -- to highlight his second pro season. His .368 average ranks third in the league behind teammates Frazier Hall (.403) and Jerod Yakubik (.369).

The cycle continued a remarkable week for the Owlz. On Tuesday, 2011 first-round pick C.J. Cron tied a league record by homering three times at Ogden. Three nights later, he went deep twice and drove in a career-high six runs, also against the Raptors.