Cuddyer's hit streak ends at 27 games

DENVER -- After 27 games, Michael Cuddyer finally ran into a pitcher his red-hot bat couldn't catch up to.

Cuddyer finished 0-for-4 against Clayton Kershaw to end the Rockies' longest hitting streak in franchise history at 27 games. His final at-bat ended with a routine fly ball to right field, sealing the Dodgers' 8-0 victory at Coors Field on Tuesday night.

"He's run into a lot of tough pitchers along the way on this streak and he ran into a tough one tonight," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Kershaw was real good and it was tough he had to run into him at this point in his streak."

Cuddyer's streak ended exactly where Red Sox slugger David Ortiz's did earlier this year. Ortiz hit in 27 straight over two seasons -- from July 2, 2012 to May 7, 2013. Cuddyer further separated himself from hitting coach Dante Bichette in the Rockies record book, as Bichette claimed a 23-game streak in 1995.

His streak stands as the longest in a single season since Dan Uggla went 33 straight games with a hit in 2011 with the Braves.

Never caught up in the superstitions and codes of silence often associated with such streaks, Cuddyer never hesitated to discuss it. Why so?

"Because 56 games is unattainable, so it doesn't matter," said Cuddyer, a recently branded authority on the record set by Joe DiMaggio. "You just enjoy the ride as long as you can.

"Fifty-six in itself, I don't see that getting broken. Period."

Cuddyer's bat caught fire during the streak, batting .372 (42-for-113) with six homers, 19 RBIs and 17 runs since it began May 27. He also had 42 hits -- 11 of them for extra bases -- over that span.

Tuesday night also ended Cuddyer's streak of reaching base safely in 46 consecutive games, the longest such streak in the big leagues since Kevin Millar reached in 52 straight in 2007.

Cuddyer's streak was in serious danger against the Giants Sunday when he went without a hit in his first three at-bats. But he dribbled a ball through the middle of the infield in the eighth -- his final plate appearance -- to keep the streak alive at 27 games.

That was just one example of the unpredictability involved in such a long streak.

"Through the course of this whole thing, I had good at-bats, I had some luck, some infield hits here and there, some broken bat hits," Cuddyer said. "But to hit for a month straight, that's what happens."