Dan Uggla Tries to Keep the Streak Alive

Dan Uggla is on fire.

The Atlanta Braves' second baseman delivered an infield single off Clay Hensley in the fifth inning of his team's 4-3, extra-inning victory over the Florida Marlins Tuesday night, advancing his hitting streak to 30 games.

Uggla finished 1-for-6 against his former club and is batting .220 on the season with 24 home runs and 56 RBI. He was batting .173 when the streak began, which marks the lowest average for any hitter with more than 10 at-bats at the start of a 30-game streak since at least 1918. So.... he sucks but he doesn't.

Watch Out Pirates, Here Comes Hunter Pence

The Houston Astros suck a lot right now, but Hunter Pence is on fire.

The 28-year-old outfielder extended his hitting streak to 23 games after going 3-for-4 with 4 RBI in his team's 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

Pence, who missed his first game of the season on Sunday with tightness in his back, went yard off Derek Lowe in the third inning for his ninth homer of the year and drove in two more with a base hit in Houston's five-run sixth.

His hit streak is the longest in the big leagues currently, while batting .325 with 50 RBI on the season. He's now tied up with Art Howe, Moises Alou and Luis Gonzalez for the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. Good company. If he wants to be the best, he'll need to hit in eight more games consecutively to beat Willy Taveras' 30-game hitting streak from back in 2006.

Andre Ethier's Hit Streak Intact but at a Standstill

We talked a little bit about Andre Ethier's impressive hitting streak on Tuesday, even though we were a little reluctant to considering the luck we've had when opening our big mouths in the past.

The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder was scratched from Wednesday's game against the Chicago Cubs (which his team ended up losing 5-1) with a sore left elbow. Although he made it clear that he was willing to sacrifice his streak for one pinch-hit late in the game, he never even got the chance since Carlos Zambrano was being so unhittable.

We've always like Ethier. In fact, we were a little irritated back in the summer of 2009 when Manny Ramirez came back from his first steroid-related suspension and Ethier was thrown back on the bench like some sort of worthless replacement, even though he was ten times the player Manny was that season and stepped up huge during those 50 games.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Someone better call 9-1-1. Andre Ethier is on fire.

Usually, we don't get serious about hitting streaks until they reach 25 games. In fact, the last time we were this excited about a string of games with one hit after another was when we jinxed Scott Rolen during his 25-game streak back in July of 2009. That number is about where most streaks go to die.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The Texas Rangers 11-game winning streak came to a screeching halt Friday when the Houston Astros beat them 7-4.

The good news is, Josh Hamilton's hitting streak is still alive and extended to 19 games. In a row. The outfielder had three more knocks in the game, but it wasn't enough to keep his team rolling.

The 44-29 Rangers' last suffered defeat on June 11 when the Brewers beat them 6-2 in Milwaukee, kicking off their 15-game stretch against NL opponents.

The game was actually pretty exciting: Ian Kinsler was ejected by plate umpire Eric Cooper after flipping his bat, helmet and shin guard on a called third strike; there were not one, but two Rangers errors on one play, and manager Ron Washington got pretty wound up when a fastball from reliever Alexi Ogando knocked Cooper to the ground. It was kind of a mess.

The Rangers will try to start another streak during game two of the three-game series against the Astros Saturday afternoon at 3:05pm ET.

[AP] | [Hamiltonism] | [Nerds Guide to Baseball]

Oops. Rolen's Streak Ends at 25 Games

After getting a day of rest on Thursday, Scott Rolen's impressive 25-game hitting streak has come to an end.

The Toronto Blue Jays hot-hitting third baseman went 0-for-4 with a line-out, two pop-outs and a fly-out in his team's 2-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles Friday night.

Sorry about that, Canada.

[Canada.com]

P.S. Yes, I realize that is a picture of former Jays third baseman Troy Glaus. Yes, it was a poor attempt at humor and the revival of a bad joke. No, I am not going to change it.

Scott Rolen is on a Roll

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen has hit safely in a career-high 25 straight games. I'm pretty impressed by this feat. However, the last time I went nuts over a player's hitting streak, I totally jinxed them.

This is me apologizing in advance, Canada.

Ichiro Makes Mariners History

Ichiro Suzuki has extended his hitting streak to 26 games, breaking his 2007 record of most consecutive games with a hit and setting the new standard in Seattle Mariners territory.

It took only three pitches into the first inning from Baltimore Orioles rookie right-hander David Hernandez for the sweet-swinging centerfielder to line a base hit to short. He then made his way around the horn and scored on a two-out double by Jose Lopez.

Ichiro, batting .354 on the season, is currently 1-for-2 with a run scored in the top half of the third inning. We'll keep you posted if he does anything else spectacular.

Update: Ichiro went 2-for-5 with 2 runs scored, adding a two-out single to left in the fourth in the Mariners 8-2 win.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Ichiro Suzuki nailed another one Monday, tying the Seattle Mariners’ club record of 25 consecutive games with a hit, which he set in 2007.

The eight-time All-Star lined a leadoff double -- his ninth of the season -- off Baltimore Orioles lefty Rich Hill before taking third on an error in the bottom of the first inning, bringing his batting average to an impressive .352 on the year just a day after enjoying four hits against the Los Angeles Angels.

I Hate You, Barry Zito

Dear Barry Zito,

I thought you were a douche before you ruined my day today, but wow. I believe my detest can be summed up entirely by the above photo of you and your guitar, but I'll elaborate.

Liveblog at Walkoff Walk With Sooze!

So, if you're not doing anything at 3:45pm ET today, come join in the fun over at Walkoff Walk, where I'll be live-blogging the Washington Nationals @ the San Francisco Giants.

I'll give you one guess why. Anyway, go read it after the game, and I bet you'll almost swear you were actually there! I'm that good.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Welcome to Crushingham Palace

Good Lord.

Okay, I'm not going to go on and on about how ridiculously awesome it is that it once again took Ryan Zimmerman only one inning to nail a 1-1 pitch from San Francisco Giants righty Matt Cain for a single to center Tuesday night. Alright, maybe I'll go on a little. This, of course, extends his hitting streak to 30 games.

The only other third baseman to be this consecutively badass was the infamous Pete Rose, who hit safely in 44 straight games, back in 1978. And actually, that doesn't even count, cause Rose played two games in left field during that span.

Halfway Home: Updated

I've been pretty much oozing non-stop over Ryan Zimmerman for the last couple of weeks to everyone I know, so I figured I might as well let the lust spill over to this place. He's blowing my mind right now. In fact, I've pained through the last ten Washington Nationals games, just to see him hit. Yes, it was worth it.

He singled in the first inning Sunday evening off Arizona Diamondbacks righty Max Scherzer to bring his amazing hitting streak to 28 games.

Zimmerman has ridden this impressive streak straight to the halfway point between nothing and history: Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio's hit-steak record of 56 games. Now, he's no DiMaggio, he has recorded the most hits in consecutive games for any Washington-based player, ever. Making history must feel pretty sweet.

Continue reading this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

Update: Senator Crushingham extended his impressive hit streak to 29 games with a single to center off veteran southpaw Randy Johnson (who went on to earn career victory #298) in the first inning of Monday night's 11-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants. He'll go for consecutive game #30 -- where it gets real serious -- tonight against righty Matt Cain (3-1, 2.61 ERA).

It's Love

So, we're going to interrupt our exciting Saturday night to update you on one of our favorite players. We're actually considering changing our name to Babes Love Ryan Zimmerman, cause wow.

I've cleared my schedule to watch the last nine Washington Nationals games, just to see him hit. Yes, it's been pretty painful, but watching Zimmerman continue his impressive hitting streak -- now sitting at 27 games -- has made it all worth while.

Zim homered in the top of the eighth inning Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, taking righty reliever Juan Gutierrez deep to center, giving the Nationals a 2-0 lead for his sixth longball of the year. He's now batting .336 on the season with 21 RBIs. Hot.

Sentator Crushingham (yeah, we're still working out the nickname thing) will get a shot at hitting safely in consecutive game #28 when the Nats take on 24-year-old Max Scherzer (0-3, 3.38 ERA) and the D'Backs for game two game of the three game series.

Put It Away, Ryan Zimmerman

Just in case you've been living under a rock, Ryan Zimmerman is on a ridiculous streak right now.

The Washington Nationals third baseman is rolling on a club-record 20 straight games with a hit. Friday night against Todd Wellemeyer and the smokin' hot St. Louis Cardinals, he singled to center in the third inning to extend the streak, which is the longest by a D.C. player since Mickey Vernon's 20-game stint in 1953 with the Senators.

To Zim's credit, the humble team player said he'd trade the incredible streak for a few more victories for his no-talent hard-luck club.

You'd think his batting average would be sky-high, but not so much. He's batting a decent .289, with five home runs and 16 RBIs. If that's not good enough for you, don't flip out. In his first three full seasons with the Nationals, Zimmerman has gotten off to a slow start every year. We're talking a .237 career average during the first month. Also, his middle name is Wallace. Just thought you all should know, if you didn't already.

It's a good thing the 6-17 Nationals found a way to settle up with the face of their franchise back in February, before this god-awful season began. Zim will go for consecutive hit #21 when the Nats face righty Brian Moehler and the Houston Astros Monday night.

[MLB] | [The Statline Report] | [Fastball Radio] | [Dugout Central]

Ichiro: What's in a Contract Year?

Dusty Baker Orestes Destrada's bold prediction on Baseball Tonight last night was that Ichiro Suzuki would hit safely in every game he plays in for the month of June. That would give him one amazing 51-game hitting streak.

While I doubt that will happen, I suppose if anyone is going to challenge Joe DiMaggio's streak, it's this guy.

Ichiro went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a stolen base, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 24 games as the Seattle Mariners held on to beat the Texas Rangers 9-5 last night. He can be thanked for Seattle's recent run of seven wins in their last ten games, as well.

In that span, Ichiro is batting .362 (12-for-47) with 17 hits, including 2 homers and 9 RBIs. He had 46 hits and an AL-best 13 stolen bases over 30 games in May, and batted .357 for the month.

So far, I'd say he's making a pretty good impression in the last year of his contract. Although, he claims that the lack of any serious talks on a new Seattle deal with free agency looming gives no added importance to his strong start.

[Lookout Landing]