You probably heard that Ian Happ this week became the first Cub ever to hit a home run in 6 consecutive games against a specific opponent.

Happ homered at Cincinnati on Aug. 17 and 18 of last season, in each game when the Reds visited Wrigley Field on Sept. 6-8, then in the series opener at Great American Ballpark on Monday.

His streak was snapped Tuesday, when he went 0 for 5, with 3 strikeouts.

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SAUER POWER

The team record of 5 straight games had stood since 1954, when Hank Sauer did it against the Pirates.

He homered at Pittsburgh on May 16 and 17, then again June 14. The teams were idle the next days, then were rained out twice.

They did not meet again until July 15, when Sauer homered in both games of a doubleheader at Wrigley. The next day, he went 0 for 3.

Sauer's 5 in a row was equaled 4 times before Happ exceeded it:

Ernie Banks vs. Phillies, Aug. 20, 1957-May 23, 1958

Andre Dawson vs. Astros, June 1-Aug. 22, 1987

Sammy Sosa vs. Rockies, Aug. 17-Sept. 4, 1995

Sammy Sosa vs. Padres, Aug. 6, 2003-Aug. 10, 2004

...

Banks failed to homer in his next game against the Phillies, but doubles and tripled in 5 at bats.

Dawson went for 1 for 4, a single, in his next game; Sosa, vs. the Rockies, 0 for 4, and vs. the Padres, 1 for 3, a double.

...

Here are the numbers for the batters in each of the streaks of 5 or more games:

Sauer: .526/.571/1.316 (10 for 19, 10 singles, 5 homers)

Banks: .524/.546/1.429 (11 for 21, 2 singles, 4 doubles, 5 homers)

Dawson: .500/.500/1.583 (12 for 24, 3 singles, 1 triple, 8 homers)

Sosa (vs. Rockies): .429/.455/1.143 (9 for 21, 4 singles, 5 homers)

Sosa (vs. Padres): .333/.364/1.048 (7 for 21, 2 singles, 5 homers)

Happ: .458/.480/1.250 (11 for 24, 4 singles, 1 double, 6 homers)

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CUBS' BEST VS. EACH OPPONENT

Until Happ's run of 6 games, the longest streak against the Reds had been 4 games, by Sosa, in 2003, and Anthony Rizzo, in 2017.

Those are among 26 streaks of 4 games by Cubs batters against any opponent.

They have had 132 streaks of 3 games, for a total of 164 of at least 3 in a row.

Here are all of those streaks, grouped by opponent, in alphabetical order by opponent's nickname:

...

Astros

5: Andre Dawson

4: Fred McGriff

3: Sammy Sosa, twice; Billy Williams, twice; Randy Hundley; Addison Russell

Braves

3: 12 times, by 11 players (Ernie Banks twice); most recent: Willson Contreras

Brewers

3: Sammy Sosa, 3 times; Aramis Ramirez; Anthony Rizzo

Cardinals

4: Rogers Hornsby, Bryan LaHair, Hank Sauer, Matt Stairs, Hack Wilson

3: 17 times, by 15 players (Ernie Banks twice); most recent: Anthony Rizzo

Diamondbacks

4: Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa

3: Mark Grace, Sosa, Soriano, Patrick Wisdom

Dodgers

4: Ernie Banks, Chuck Klein

3: 14 times, by 10 players (Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, 3 times each); most recent: Kris Bryant

Giants

3: Billy Williams, twice; Kiki Cuyler, Andre Dawson, Dave Kingman, Bill Nicholson, Rip Russell

Marlins

3: Marlon Byrd, Fred McGriff

Mets

4: Ernie Banks

3: 7 times, by 7 players; most recent: Ian Happ

Nationals (includes as Expos)

4: Leon Durham, Billy Williams

3: Mark DeRosa, Ryne Sandberg

Padres

5: Sammy Sosa

4: Alfonso Soriano, Billy Williams

3: 8 times, by 7 players (Andre Dawson twice); most recent: Javier Baez

Phillies

5: Ernie Banks

4: Ron Cey

3: 17 times, by 13 players (Banks and Sammy Sosa, 3 times each; Chuck Klein and Hank Sauer, twice); most recent: Sosa

Pirates

5: Hank Sauer

4: Andy Pafko, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa

3: 18 times, by 16 players (Hack Wilson and Billy Williams, twice); most recent: Frank Schwindel

Reds

6: Ian Happ

4: Anthony Rizzo, Sammy Sosa

3: 20 times, by 18 players (Ron Santo, 3 times; Derrek Lee, twice); most recent: Kyle Schwarber

Rockies

5: Sammy Sosa

3: Sosa, twice, and Corey Patterson

Tigers

3: Kyle Schwarber

Twins

3: Ricky Gutierrez

White Sox

3: 6 times, by 6 players; most recent: Carlos Pena

...

Note that a Cub has homered in at least 3 straight games against only 3 American League teams (Tigers, Twins, White Sox) and never in 4 against any AL team.

No Cub has homered in 4 straight games against 4 NL rivals: Braves, Brewers, Giants and Marlins.

From the start of 1901 through Wednesday, the Cubs have played 1,975 games against the Giants, 1,957 against the Braves, 404 against the Brewers and 212 against the Marlins.

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ALL-TIME RECORD

The most consecutive games in which any player has hit home runs against a specific opponent is 9.

Joe Adcock of the Braves did it against the Dodgers, from June 16 through July 31 of 1956.

Harmon Killebrew of the Senators duplicated the feat against the Athletics, from July 1-Sept. 10, 1961.

Both streaks ended when they went 0 for 4 in their next game.

Their numbers during the streaks:

Adcock: .536/.606/1.643 (15 for 28, 3 singles, 1 double, 10 homers)

Killebrew: .606/.659/1.424 (20 for 33, 11 singles, 9 homers)

...

Before Adcock came along, only 1 player ever had homered in even 7 games against an opponent: Yogi Berra of the Yankees, against the Athletics, Sept. 8, 1955-June 7, 1956.

Only 1 has had 7 in a row since Killebrew: Ken Griffey Jr. of the Mariners, May 20-Aug. 8, 1994.

Berra's streak ended when he went 1 for 3, plus a walk.

Griffey's ended when he went 1 for 3, with 2 walks.

Their numbers:

Berra: .483/.531/1.345 (14 for 29, 5 singles, 1 double, 8 homers)

Griffey Jr.: .594/.639/1.469 (19 for 32, 7 singles, 4 doubles, 8 homers)

..........

27 WITH 6 IN ROW

Since Berra and Griffey Jr. both were on American League teams, Happ's run of 6 games is tied for the second longest by a National League player.

Happ became the 27th player in either league to homer in 6 straight games against the same opponent.

Those 27 include Adam LaRoche of the Nationals, who did it against the Cubs, April 7-Sept. 6, 2012.

That is the longest streak by any slugger vs. the Cubs.

Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals homered in 5 straight, June 17-July 21, 2018.

Their numbers:

LaRoche: .583/.630/1.458 (14 for 24, 7 singles, 7 homers)

Carpenter: .529/.600/1.882 (9 for 17, 2 doubles, 7 homers)

...

22 players have hit homers in 4 straight games against the Cubs, from High Pockets Kelly of the Giants, in 1924, to Joey Votto of the Reds, last season.

Among the others with 4: Jose Abreu, Jim Edmonds, Gil Hodges, Ted Kluszewski, Paul Konerko, Davey Lopes, Eddie Matthews, Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols.

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TOP STREAKS VS. EACH TEAM

Here is the longest streak against each MLB team, and all other streaks of at least 6 games:

Angels

6: Jim Thome

Astros

5: Andre Dawson (as Cub)

Athletics

9: Harmon Killebrew

7: Yogi Berra

6: Babe Ruth

Blue Jays

6: Mark Teixeira

Braves

6: Johnny Bench

Brewers

6: Reggie Jackson, Robin Ventura

Cardinals

6: Christian Yelich

Cubs

6: Adam LaRoche

Diamondbacks

6: Paul Konerko

Dodgers

9: Joe Adcock

6: Cy Williams, Trevor Story

Guardians

6: Tim Salmon

Orioles (includes as Browns)

6: Albert Belle

Mariners

5: Harold Baines, Jose Canseco

Marlins

5: Ronald Acuna Jr.

Mets

5: Hank Aron, Ryan Howard, Giancarlo Stanton, Yasmany Tomas

Nationals (includes as Expos)

5: Barry Bonds, Fred McGriff

Padres

6: Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones

Phillies

6: Brian McCann

Pirates

6: Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Mathews

Rangers (includes as Senators II)

7: Ken Griffey Jr.

6: Khris Davis

Rays

6: Travis Hafner

Reds

6: Ian Happ (as Cub), Eric Thames

Red Sox

5: Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Giancarlo Stanton, Jim Thome

Rockies

6: Troy Glaus

Royals

6: Brian Dozier, Ken Griffey Jr.

Tigers

5: 9 times, by 9 players; most recent: Jorge Soler

Twins (includes as Senators I)

6: Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome

White Sox

5: 7 times; most recent: Byron Buxton

Yankees

5: Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Mark Trumbo