Uggla's hitting streak halted at 33 games

081411 Dan Uggla (AP)

ATLANTA -- It took a diving catch worthy of highlight treatment under any circumstances, but Dan Uggla's hitting streak finally ended at 33 games.

Cubs rookie second baseman Darwin Barney raced into shallow right field in the fifth inning of a 6-5 Braves loss on Sunday and made a dive to rob Uggla of a bloop hit at Turner Field.

Uggla finished 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly as he was stopped four games short of the Braves' franchise record of 37 set by Tommy Holmes of the Boston Braves in 1945. The Atlanta record, which Uggla now owns, was 31 games, established by Rico Carty in 1970.

"It was a fun run," Uggla said. "But all things have to come to and end some time."

Uggla was batting just .173 when the streak began on July 5 against Colorado. He batted .377 during the streak, going 49-for-130 with 15 homers and 32 RBIs. Uggla ended the weekend hitting .231 overall.

"From where I was, it was a battle," Uggla said. "I'm sure I'll look back and be pretty proud of what I did. That was more games than I ever expected to have in a row."

Uggla's streak would likely still be going, though, if it weren't for Barney, who also had three hits.

"Just because of the circumstances and all that, I'm pretty happy about it," Barney said of the catch. "Sometimes, you get lucky."

Uggla thought that the ball was going to drop for a hit, feeling that there was no way that right fielder Tyler Colvin was going to get it.

"I wasn't looking at [Barney]," Uggla said. "I was looking at Colvin. Barney just kind of came flying in there."

"I had a bead on it," Barney said. "I knew I had a chance off the bat. The hardest part about that play is, 'Where is the right fielder? Is he coming? Is he going to say something late?' You've just got to be prepared for that. I took a peek over, then committed to it. Fortunately, I got it."

Uggla, who had extended his streak in his first at-bat of the previous three games, nearly had a broken-bat hit in the first inning. But Alfonso Soriano raced in to make the catch, with Michael Bourn scoring on a weak throw to the plate.

Uggla popped out against Cubs starter Matt Garza in the third inning and bounced out to shortstop in the seventh inning against reliever Jeff Samardzija after Garza retired him in the fifth.

"It was a good streak for him," Barney said. "I think our pitchers are happy. They take a lot of pride in that. I'm happy for them."

"Uggs is a great player," Garza said. "He's a danger in the lineup at any time, streak or no streak. But for a guy, the way he started out this year, to get that, good for you, buddy. At the same time, it's a proud moment."

Manager Fredi Gonzalez and the Braves watched as Uggla got hits in game after game.

"It's impressive. It really is," Gonzalez said of the streak. "He carried us. We were able to win ballgames when Chipper [Jones] and [Brian] McCann were out of the lineup with injuries."

"I'm proud of what he did," teammate Martin Prado said. "It was a great streak."

The Braves open a four-game series against the Giants on Monday at Turner Field, and Uggla would like nothing better than to begin a new streak.

"I had a blast," he said. "I hope to start another one tomorrow."