A’s slugger Nick Kurtz sees his historic streak end, tied with Mark McGwire
Nick Kurtz’s historic streak is over.
The Athletics’ slugging first baseman saw his 48-game on-base streak snapped Tuesday, leaving him tied with Mark McGwire in 1996 for the longest single-season run in club history.
“Even in that last at-bat, I still felt confident that he was going to continue this thing,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “He mentioned after the game ... ‘nothing lasts forever.’ But jokingly, I said, ‘I thought you were going to last forever.’”
Kurtz finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the 4-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners in West Sacramento, with his streak ending with a swinging strikeout in the eighth inning against left-handed reliever Gabe Speier.
Kurtz came into the game leading Major League Baseball in on-base percentage (.444) and walks (52). His streak fell 36 games shy of the all-time record by Ted Williams, who reached in 84 straight games in 1949.
McGwire’s 48-game streak in 1996 came after reaching base in his last 14 games of 1995, for a 62-game on-base streak that ranks as the fifth-longest in MLB history, when considering streaks that span multiple seasons.
“It was one of those days where it didn’t happen,” Kurtz said. “That’s baseball. ... Whenever you’re on a list with some of the all-time greats, it’s really cool to look back on it. Those are probably the best players to ever play the game, so to be compared to them in any way is pretty cool.”
Kurtz, 23, is having an impressive sophomore season after running away with the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2025. He came into Tuesday slashing .286/.444/.481 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs, and he hit .308 during his 48-game streak.
“I feel like as I’ve talked about Nick since last season when we brought him here, that there was an advanced approach with him in the box, he’s not chasing hits,” Kotsay said. “If he’s getting pitched off the corner away, he doesn’t expand, he doesn’t go out to try to get a hit. He allows the at-bat to come to him, for the pitcher to come to him.
“A lot of times, with young hitters, you’re going to see that they expand, they swing at balls. Especially when they’ve walked, they want to go out and do more, they want to get that hit and that’s something that Nick doesn’t chase.”
Kurtz will attempt to start a new streak Wednesday, and the A’s will try to avoid being swept by the Mariners, with a 12:05 p.m. start time at Sutter Health Park.
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 9:24 PM.
