Nolan Arenado extends hitting streak to 24 games - MLB

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado extended his hitting streak to 24 consecutive games with a fourth-inning double in Sunday afternoon’s series finale at home against the Mets. Arenado slashed a 1-2 change-up from Dillon Gee to left field with one out in the fourth inning.

The hitting streak is currently the longest active streak in baseball, and it is the second-longest in Rockies history. Michael Cuddyer set the Rockies’ record last season with a 27-game streak, but it was ended by none other than Clayton Kershaw.

Arenado has been enjoying a great start to the 2014 season. Entering Sunday’s action, he had a .313/.326/.492 slash line, and hit a go-ahead grand slam in Saturday night’s game against the Mets.

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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.