Ildemaro Vargas has been on an absolute tear to start the 2026 season, but every streak must come to an end. The Arizona Diamondbacks infielder saw his remarkable 27-game hitting streak snapped Saturday night in a 2-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs, going 0-for-4 at the plate.
At 34 years old, Vargas had been a hitting machine. The streak—which included hits in Arizona's final three games of 2025 and the first 24 games of this season—was the longest in Major League Baseball since Trea Turner also hit safely in 27 straight contests spanning the 2021-22 seasons. Vargas came into Saturday's game riding high after a 4-for-4 performance the night before, his best outing during the historic run, which had boosted his average to a staggering .404.
Even with the hitless outing, Vargas still leads all of MLB with a .388 batting average. His .412 on-base percentage ranks fifth in the National League, and he tops the senior circuit with a .673 slugging percentage—numbers that would make any hitter envious.
Saturday's game was a tough one for the veteran. He grounded out to third in the first inning, flew out to center in the fourth, and grounded out to shortstop in the seventh against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga. In the ninth, facing reliever Ben Brown, Vargas again grounded out to shortstop. As a team, the D-Backs managed just four hits on the night.
Vargas' streak now stands as the second-longest to begin a season in MLB history, trailing only Ron LeFlore's 30-game run to open the 1976 campaign for the Detroit Tigers. In Diamondbacks franchise history, it ranks second behind Luis Gonzalez's 30-game streak in 1999, while his 24-game season-opening streak ties Tony Womack's mark from 2000.
The infielder also set a franchise record by recording a hit in 20 consecutive road games, surpassing the previous mark of 18 set by Junior Spivey in 2002 and Stephen Drew in 2010.
Perhaps most meaningful to Vargas personally: his 27-game streak is the longest ever by a Venezuelan player, surpassing Wilson Ramos' 26-game run with the New York Mets in 2019. It's a milestone he noted with pride after Saturday's game, and one that adds another chapter to a career that has seen him play parts of 10 MLB seasons, including three separate stints with the Diamondbacks since his debut in 2017.