Rollins stretches hitting streak to 37 games

PHILADELPHIA -- Jimmy Rollins stretched his hitting streak to 37 games Monday with a double in the eighth inning of Philadelphia's season opening 13-5 loss to St. Louis.\nRollins ended the 2005 season with a 36-game hitting streak, the ninth-longest over one season in big league history, and the longest in the majors since 1987, when Paul Molitor hit safely in 39 consecutive games.\nRollins extended his streak by lining a 3-0 pitch off Adam Wainwright down the right-field line. He got a standing ovation from those remaining among the sellout crowd of 44,614 at Citizens Bank Park, tipped his hat to the fans and made sure he got the ball for a keepsake.\nHe went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly before getting his hit with two outs in the eighth.\n"I've been waiting five or six months, so I didn't mind waiting," Rollins said. "It was good to get the first game out of the way."\nA three-time All-Star shortstop, Rollins is chasing Joe DiMaggio's major league record 56-game hitting streak, though there is a twist.\nDiMaggio accomplished his feat in the same season in 1941. The major league marks for longest hitting streak in one season and longest hitting streak spanning two seasons are separate records.\nDiMaggio holds both with his 56-game streak in 1941, but there is a difference in the NL records: Pete Rose (1978) and Willie Keeler (1897) share the NL mark at 44 games. However, Keeler got a hit in his final game of 1896, so his run of 45 games overall is the first record Rollins is pursuing.\nThe old Phillies franchise record of 31 was set by Ed Delahanty in 1899.\n"Records are meant to be broken and it's good to have an opportunity to chase them," Rollins said. "But I'm more focused on how we do as a team."\nThe switch-hitting Rollins didn't get a hit in three at-bats batting left-handed against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter, and hit a sacrifice fly against left-hander Randy Flores in the sixth. He got his hit from the left side against the right-handed Wainwright.\nRollins' first at-bat ended when Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein made an outstanding, sliding catch on a foul pop down the left-field line. He hit a hard liner right at center fielder Jim Edmonds his next time up, and grounded out to first base in the fifth inning. Rollins' hit another hard liner to Edmonds for his sacrifice fly.\n"I wasn't concerned," he said. "My swing was there."\nRollins hit .379 (61-for-161) during his season-ending streak, nearly helping Philadelphia make the playoffs. The Phillies finished one game behind NL wild-card winner Houston and two games behind NL East champion Atlanta.\nRollins' last game without a hit was Aug. 22, when he went 0-for-4 against San Francisco. He began the streak with a ninth-inning double the following day against the Giants' Brian Cooper.\nCoincidentally, the Phillies decided during the offseason to introduce the starting lineups in reverse order before games. So, that saved Rollins, the leadoff hitter, for last. He, of course, received the loudest cheers.\nThe colder weather certainly won't help Rollins keep the streak going. He's never hit well in April, compiling a .227 average during that month over the last two years.\n"I think it will be almost a little bit more special if he ends up going as far because of the layoff," Eckstein said. "To keep that streak going, it's tough, especially this part of the season when you're first starting out"