Reds' Aroldis Chapman Sees Strikeout Streak End at 49 Appearances

Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman saw his MLB record of 49 consecutive relief appearances with a strikeout come to an end Friday night, per the team's official Twitter feed.

Chapman entered Friday's game against the Colorado Rockies in the ninth inning looking for his 26th save of the season while protecting a one-run Cincinnati lead. Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario flied out to center for the first out, followed by a walk to shortstop Charlie Culberson. Rockies pinch-hitter Michael McKenry then lined out to Reds first baseman Jack Hannahan, who stepped on the bag to double up Culberson for the final out of the game. 

Chapman's historic streak—covering 50.2 innings—started nearly one year ago on Aug. 21, 2013. His 49 consecutive appearances with at least one strikeout were 10 more than the previous streak of 39 appearances, set by Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter with the Chicago Cubs from June 1 to Oct. 2, 1977, per MLB.com's Manny Randhawa.

Chapman allowed just nine earned runs during the streak for a stingy ERA of 1.60. He allowed an earned run in only six of the 49 appearances, and four of those earned runs came in one game, June 20 versus the Toronto Blue Jays.

During the streak, the Cuban flame-thrower amassed 100 K's among his 152 outs, primarily using his famous fastball to post an astounding 17.76 K/9. He walked only 21 batters and allowed just one home run.

Chapman saved 32 games during his remarkable run, also picking up one win, three losses and two blown saves while facing 17 of the other 29 MLB franchises.

*All stats courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.