Brock Holt first to hit for cycle in MLB postseason as Red Sox rout Yankees

Brock Holt became the first player in major league history to hit for the cycle in a postseason game in the Boston Red Sox's 16-1 rout of the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Monday night.

Holt capped his momentous day with a ninth-inning home run off of Austin Romine, a position player who was on the Yankee Stadium mound for mop-up duty.

Holt admitted the cycle was on his mind when he saw Romine take the mound.

"I knew I needed [a home run] and with a position player on the mound, short right-field porch, I was just going to be swinging at everything, trying to hook everything," he said on SportsCenter after Boston took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. "I told the guys to get me up -- I needed a homer for the cycle. I kind of scooted up in the box a little bit, I kind of figured I'd ground out to first, but it worked out."

After grounding out in his first at-bat, Holt singled to open the fourth, then hit a two-run triple later in the inning as the Red Sox broke the game open.

Holt added a ground-rule RBI double in the eighth inning. He finished 4-for-6 with 5 RBIs.

It was the second time Holt has hit for the cycle in his career -- he also did it June 16, 2015, against the Braves.

Romine became only the second pure position player to pitch in a postseason game -- not counting two-way players like Rick Ankiel and Babe Ruth -- after Cliff Pennington took the mound for the Blue Jays against the Royals in AL Championship Series Game 4 in 2015.

The 15-run margin is the largest victory by a road team in postseason history, the largest loss for the Yankees in the playoffs, and the second-largest playoff win for Boston, which also holds the record with a 23-7 victory over Cleveland in Game 4 of the 1999 ALDS.

The Yankees' 16 runs allowed are the most the team has ever given up in 396 postseason games.