Bogaerts extends hitting streak to 22 games

With a sixth-inning single Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has extended his hitting streak to 22 games.

The streak currently ranks as MLB's longest active streak and brings Bogaerts to within seven of the 29-game streak teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. managed earlier in May.

Manager John Farrell felt it was only a matter of time before Bogaerts' bat came alive.

"The one thing that's different is, because he's handled pitches away from him so well, there's been more pitches that he's seeing on the inside part of the plate, and he's pulled his hands in routinely with good, hard contact to the pull side," Farrell told MLB.com's Ian Browne on Sunday. "We're seeing some of the power that everyone had alluded to, and that's by a natural progression that we felt would take place."

The 23-year-old shortstop is slashing .346/.396/.510 on the season with six home runs.