The streak ended with a gift from Chase Utley. Before Enrique Hernandez came up to bat in the fifth inning of a 7-2 Dodgers victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday, before he ended a three-week string of futility with runners on base, he accepted an offering from Utley: A black Marucci brand, the bat model Utley has used for most of his career.
Utley had agreed to loan Hernandez some lumber the night before as a cure for Hernandez's sizable slump. Hernandez reminded him before stepping into the batter's box against starter Stephen Strasburg. Armed with Utley's bat, Hernandez was prepared for a first-pitch fastball from Strasburg, hammering the baseball into the Dodgers bullpen in left field.