WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Cuddyer homered in his first at-bat to extend the major league’s longest hitting streak this season to 21 games — and the Colorado Rockies hung on to beat the Washington Nationals 7-6 Sunday.

Cuddyer went 3 for 4 with four RBIs to pass St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese for the year’s best batting run, and the Rockies right fielder is now just two games shy of matching the franchise’s best streak. Dante Bichette, now the team’s hitting coach, had hits in 23 consecutive games in 1995.

Cuddyer also extended his Colorado record for consecutive games reaching base to 40.

Jorge De La Rosa (8-4) allowed seven hits in six innings, trading both his earned runs for outs in the bottom of the fourth.