SEATTLE — All good things in baseball eventually come to an end, and José Ramírez’s on-base streak is no different.
Ramírez’s latest streak of reaching base safely was halted Sunday as the Cleveland Guardians third baseman went hitless in four plate appearances during a 6-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
The six-time All-Star had reached base via hit, walk or hit by pitch in 39 consecutive games before grounding out to second baseman Jorge Polanco in his final at-bat of the ninth inning, sealing Cleveland’s defeat as they were swept in Seattle for the first time since 2012.
Ramírez nearly didn’t get a chance to extend his streak, but teammate Kyle Manzardo’s single up the middle against Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo gave him one final opportunity. Ramírez couldn’t capitalize, rolling over on Bazardo’s slider for the game-ending groundout.
The streak stands as the second-longest by an American League player this season and trails only Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, who reached base in 41 straight games, for the longest in the majors.
During his impressive run, which began April 30, Ramírez hit .380 (57 for 150) with 20 extra-base hits including 11 doubles, a triple and eight home runs. He drove in 20 runs and posted a 1.073 OPS while hitting safely in 36 of those 39 games.
Ramírez’s streak was the longest by a Cleveland player since Victor Martinez reached base in 45 consecutive games spanning from September 2005 to May 2006. It was also the longest single-season on-base streak for a Cleveland player since Jim Thome set the franchise record with 55 games in 2002.
Ramírez managed to keep the streak alive with a game-tying home run in the fifth inning Saturday night. After working deep into the count against Seattle’s George Kirby, he blasted a 2-2 sinker around the right field foul pole. The ball left his bat at 105 mph according to Statcast.
“He’s one of the best hitters on the planet,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said afterward. “That was a great at-bat. He had multiple great at-bats tonight, even one of the punchouts was an unbelievable at-bat. José just continues to do incredible things.”
Teammate Steven Kwan praised Ramírez’s accomplishment: “It just shows really how good he is. Everybody wants to be the one to end (the streak) and he still worked his way on. It was just cool seeing him do that.”
Ramírez’s 52 hits during the streak ranked second in the majors behind only Houston’s Jeremy Peña (53). His .382 batting average and .454 on-base percentage during that span both ranked second in MLB.
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