Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu and outfielder Charlie Blackmon each notched a hit within the first three innings on Friday night vs. the Giants, helping a Beat the Streak participant get closer to 57 straight picks -- one more than Joe DiMaggio's famed hitting streak in 1941 -- and therefore the $5.6 million grand prize.
The participant, who plays BTS under the username "willmccormack14," has now notched 40 straight correct picks. That's good for the top active streak and tied for the second longest overall this season.
The streaker was able to increase the streak by two games on Friday using the "Double Down" feature, whereby a BTS participant picks two players on the same day. If both get a hit, the streak advances by two. If either goes hitless, the streak ends.
Friday was the first time since April 27 that "willmccormack14" utilized the Double Down feature. Coincidentally, the user also picked a pair of Rockies -- Gerardo Parra and Nolan Arenado -- on that date.
The streaker used the "Mulligan" feature -- a one-time streak savior that can be used specifically on runs that are between 10 and 15 picks long -- on April 25 when Arenado went 0-for-4.
No one has won the grand prize, which has escalated to $5.6 million, in the 15 previous seasons of BTS. If nobody wins it this season, the player with the longest streak still gets a $10,000 consolation prize. Two million other prizes also were given out last year, for streaks as small as five.
But features such as the Double Down and the Mulligan make winning BTS easier than ever now. Players also can take as many days off as they want during a streak if the matchups aren't attractive, as long as they reach 57 by season's end.
Having a BTS player topple the marvelous mark of 56 would be particularly fitting this season -- the 75th anniversary of DiMaggio's hitting streak, which began on May 15, 1941, and is being honored with daily recaps on MLB.com and @TheStreak on Twitter.