Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Curley cycles into Suns' history

Marlins newcomer accomplishes feat in eighth game of season
June 1, 2016

A phone call from the Marlins gave Chris Curley a second chance, and he's been making the most of it.

"I wasn't expecting it," he said. "It was almost a month into the season and I just figured my baseball career was over. I wasn't expecting a call from anybody."

But the Marlins did, offering the 28-year-old first baseman another opportunity to play professional baseball, and he is proving himself to be a wise investment.

In his eighth game of the season, Curley hit for the cycle and drove in four runs on Wednesday as Double-A Jacksonville beat Montgomery, 7-4, at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.

"It's exciting just to be able to get under the lights again and getting another chance to play baseball," he said. "I'm just grateful."

The Kentucky native became the seventh player in Jacksonville history to accomplish the feat and the first since Kyle Skipworth on May 26, 2012. He's also the fifth player to hit for the cycle in the Minors this season.

Curley took care of the two easiest hits first when he doubled to center field leading off the bottom of the third inning and singled to right to start the fifth. When he stepped to the plate again with his team trailing, 2-1, in the sixth, he said he knew he needed to make something happen.

"With runners on second and third and a knuckleballer [Biscuits reliever Jared Mortensen] on the mound, I was just trying to let the ball get as deep as possible," Curley said. "He left a ball up, I hit it well and the ball just stayed up after I hit it."

Curley drove a 2-1 offering over the wall in right to give the Suns a 4-2 lead.

"It was huge," he said. "It was my first home run of the year, and it's nice to get that out of the way. It put us up two runs and gave us some breathing room."

Curley doubled that lead in the eighth when he said he did something he didn't think he could do.

"I was aware [of needing a triple]," he said. "[Teammate Chris] Mazza told me, 'You better get going if you hit that ball.' And I said, 'I'm too old to hit a triple.' "

Curley said he proved himself wrong when he turned on his wheels after connecting on a pitch from Brad Schreiber.

"I hit the other three balls to the opposite field," he said. "I had an idea that they'll try to come inside after those hits. After two pitches, he came back middle-in and that's what I was looking for, and Jacksonville is the perfect place to hit triples with the big gaps and deep outfield.

"I was trying to catch my breath after I got to third. It was definitely a cool feeling, I have never done that. It was a really cool accomplishment."

It was the 17th triple of Curley's career and his first since Sept. 5, 2015 when he was with Triple-A Charlotte as a member of the White Sox organization.

After finishing with a .300 batting average in 15 games with Charlotte, however, Curley became a free agent and awaited his fate for the 2016 season.

"It was very nerve-wracking," he said. "It was my first [free agency]. Once late January hit, I started to get nervous. I wasn't getting anything. Then February came around and I thought I was done. I wasn't going to play independent ball because I've already done that before."

Curley said he was thinking about his next step when the Marlins' call came.

"I was still working on that," he said. "I was just giving some lessons because there's a big following back home and it kept me busy, but I didn't know what I was going to do yet after baseball. Now I'm just very grateful for getting this chance and I'm excited to be here."

Peter Mooney and Francisco Arcia added to the Suns offense with two hits apiece, while Tyler Bremer (4-1) allowed two hits and struck out two over three innings of scoreless relief. Sean Donatello allowed two runs on four hits and fanned one in the ninth but was able to shut the door for his fourth save of the year.

Rays No. 27 prospect Kean Wong had three hits to pace the Biscuits.

Michael Peng is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelXPeng.