ST. PETERSBURG — After extending his historic on-base streak to 33 games, Rays rookie shortstop Wander Franco exited Thursday night’s 4-0 loss in the series finale against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field due to a headache.
Franco pointed to his right ear during his seventh-inning plate appearance against Boston lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, at one point stepping out of the box to speak with manager Kevin Cash and a member of Tampa Bay’s athletic training staff. However, Franco finished the at-bat.
But after taking ball four from Rodriguez, Franco motioned to the Rays’ dugout that he needed to come out of the game. He was then replaced at first base by pinch-runner Joey Wendle.
Franco hung around long enough to reach another significant milestone in his on-base streak. Among players 20 years old or younger, Franco’s 33-game streak is now tied for the third longest in AL/NL history with the Pirates’ Arky Vaughan (July 12-Aug. 10, 1932) and the New York Giants’ Mel Ott (Aug. 24-Oct. 6, 1929).
Regardless of age, Franco’s streak is the longest by a rookie shortstop since Hanley Ramirez reached in 36 straight games for the Marlins in 2006. It is also the longest active on-base streak in the Majors, the longest by a rookie in club history and the longest single-season streak by a Rays player since Johnny Damon reached in 39 consecutive games in 2011.