SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof's 24-game hitting streak came to a quick and painful end Tuesday night.
Gelof flied out to right as the leadoff hitter in the Athletics’ 3-1 loss to San Francisco. In the second inning, the Giants’ Matt Chapman hit a liner off the left-field wall to bring home Willy Adames and give San Francisco a 2-0 lead.
Chapman tried for a double, but the throw from Tyler Soderstrom in left field to Gelof
was in time to nail Chapman. But Chapman inadvertently stepped on Gelof’s right hand as the second baseman was applying the tag with his glove hand.
Gelof quickly left the field in obvious pain — ending his night and his streak.
He was unavailable for comment after the game, but manager Mark Kotsay said X-rays were negative and Gelof did not need stitches.
Gelof’s hitting streak matched the longest in the majors in the past two seasons, joining Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas. It’s also the seventh longest in Athletics franchise history and the second longest since the club moved to California in 1968. Jason Giambi had a 25-game hitting streak in 1997.
Gelof also had his on-base streak of 27 games end, along with a streak of scoring in 13 consecutive games.
The Athletics selected Gelof from the University of Virginia in the second round of the 2021 draft. He had a strong rookie season in 2023, batting .267 with 14 homers in 69 games. He struggled the next two seasons, hitting .211 with 188 strikeouts in 2024 and batting .174 last year, when injuries limited him to 30 games.
Gelof is hitting .282 this season. Before Tuesday’s game, Kotsay said one reason for Gelof’s resurgence was a change in his bat-angle approach to the baseball.
“We’re seeing a player that resembles the guy that came up and really excited us about (his) future,” Kotsay said. “The confidence that he has continues to grow and you see it out there on the baseball field.”
Also on Tuesday, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, ending a 22-game on-base streak.
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