Alexei sets White Sox record with 16-game streak

CHICAGO --- Alexei Ramirez's hitting streak was in jeopardy. That meant his chance to make history was, too.

Ramirez stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning of the White Sox 3-1 loss to the Red Sox Thursday night having gone 0-for-3 and riding a 15-game hitting streak. He was also facing one of the game's toughest closers in Koji Uehara. Ramirez went after the first pitch from Uehara and lined a single to left. With it, he set a franchise record for a hitting streak to start a season at 16 games, passing White Sox icon Frank Thomas.

"Very happy," said Ramirez through director of cultural development Lino Diaz. "It's not every day you can be right next to a Hall of Famer. I'm just very happy, I'm very humbled by it."

Ramirez is known as an aggressive hitter, and he came in with that mindset against Uehara.

"I wanted to look for a good pitch to hit, I was looking for something," said Ramirez, who has hit in 20 straight games dating back to last season. "When I was preparing, I saw he was a guy that likes to come in right away, and when I saw the pitch, I just swung at it."