MILWAUKEE — Ender Inciarte’s career-best 19-game hitting streak ended Tuesday, and Braves teammate Erick Aybar improbable hitting streak ended at 14 games Wednesday.
Improbable because Aybar was hitting at an historically bad rate well past the halfway point of the season. The veteran shortstop hit .174 with a .207 OBP and .205 slugging percentage in 38 games through May 18, and as recently as July 23 he had a .208 average, .267 OBP and .262 slugging percentage in 78 games.
But after going 5-for-43 (.116) with one extra-base hit and a .191 OBP in 14 games through July 23 – he had as many errors as hits in that dismal stretch – Aybar seemingly flipped a switch and became the best version of the player he was for most of a decade with the Angels before this season.
Before going 0-f0r-4 in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Brewers, Aybar hit safely in 14 consecutive games, batting .385 (20-for-52) a double, two triples and a .421 OBP and .481 slugging percentage in that span.
“Really, really good,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said of Aybar’s improvement. “It’s good to see. He’s making all the plays. It helps the lineup flow a little bit, too, when he’s swinging that bat and we can get him up there (in the order), switch hitter. He’s kind of come on and been a nice piece.”
Inciarte’s streak ended Tuesday when he went 0-for-3 with a walk. During the streak he hit .368 (28-for-76) with a double, a homer, five walks, 10 strikeouts and a .402 OBP.
The center fielder had a .350 average (35-for-100) with three doubles, a homer, a .394 OBP and .410 slugging percentage in his past 26 games before Wednesday, when he got back in the swing of things with another two-hit game including an RBI single.
For the season, his strikeout rate of one every 8.7 plate appearances was sixth-lowest in the NL before Wednesday.
