Pham enters Rays record book with hit
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SAN FRANCISCO -- With a single in the third inning of Friday's 5-2 Rays victory over the Giants, Tommy Pham extended his on-base streak to 40 games, which is the longest in Rays franchise history.
Pham, who surpassed Johnny Damon's streak in 2011 of 39 straight games, began the streak Aug. 21 against the Royals. Coming into Friday's game against the Giants, Pham was batting .370/.466/.637 over that stretch. Since being traded to the Rays, Pham has reached base in 45 of the 47 games he's played for Tampa Bay, and the club is 33-14 with him in the lineup.
"That's awesome," said Rays manager Kevin Cash when told of Pham's streak. "[He's meant] a lot. That's amazing. Really, really impressive. The speed helps, but he does it by having just quality at-bats. Getting some walks here, and he can really hit."
Since the start of 2017, it is the fourth longest on-base streak in the Majors behind Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo (52) in 2018, Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera (45) spanning 2017-2018 and Astros infielder Alex Bregman (42) in 2018.
In 1949, Ted Williams had an 84-game on-base streak, which is the longest in Major League history.