WASHINGTON -- After walking in the fifth inning of Saturday's 7-1 loss to the Giants, Jayson Werth now has reached base in 37 consecutive games, the longest streak in the Major Leagues this season.
Werth struck out in the first inning and grounded sharply into a double play in the third, but with one out in the fifth he earned a walk off Giants pitcher Matt Cain to preserve the streak. Werth thought he had ball four on Cain's 3-1 offering, beginning to walk down the line before the umpire called a strike. One pitch later, he got his free pass.
With the walk, Werth broke a tie with the Marlins' Marcell Ozuna for the longest on-base streak this season. During the streak, which began June 20, he has a .382 on-base percentage. That number has been fueled by his patient approach at the plate. After a slow start to the season, Werth recommitted himself to working counts and now ranks 13th in the NL in walks.
"I finally feel like myself," Werth said Friday. "I've always been an OBP guy. I kind of came into the season trying to be more aggressive. Everybody's always like, 'Why don't you be more aggressive, why don't you swing earlier in the count?' So I tried it, and I shouldn't have. So it just took me some time to get back to being me."