ST. LOUIS (AP) – Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 33 games Tuesday night with a single in the first inning for the Philadelphia Phillies against St. Louis.

The streak is the longest in the major leagues this year and five games shy of the franchise record set by teammate Jimmy Rollins, who hit safely in the final 36 games of 2005 and the first two this season.

Utley was batting .409 (56-for-137) during the streak, raising his season average to .329.

He grounded an 0-1 pitch from the Cardinals’ Jeff Suppan up the middle for a clean single to put runners on first and second with one out in the first.

Utley singled in the sixth inning Monday against Florida, his final at-bat of the day, to extend the run to 32 games.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the streak is tied for the ninth-longest in NL history with Rogers Hornsby (1922) and George Davis (1893).

AP-ES-08-01-06 2047EDT