Nick Kurtz’s franchise-record-tying on-base streak ended Tuesday night when he went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the Athletics’ 4-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
The Athletics first baseman had reached base in 48 straight games, matching Mark McGwire for the longest streak in team history before the run stopped at Seattle. Emerson Hancock got Kurtz swinging in the first inning, forced a lineout to center in the fourth, struck him out again in the sixth and handed the last out to Gabe Speier in the eighth.
Even with the streak over, Kurtz still leads the majors with a.437 on-base percentage and 52 walks. He has eight home runs, 37 RBIs and a.270 batting average, numbers that show how productive the run was even as it came to a clean halt. Kurtz’s streak was the longest in the majors since Shin-Soo Choo reached base in 52 consecutive games in 2018.
McGwire set the Athletics mark in 1996, and Kurtz had drawn level with a line that had stood untouched for nearly three decades. The major league record remains Ted Williams’ 84-game streak in 1949, a standard far beyond Kurtz’s run but one that still frames just how rare 48 straight games reaching base can be.
The only question left is whether Kurtz starts another streak quickly. For now, the Athletics move on from a loss that ended the club’s active run and left one of the season’s most durable numbers at zero.
