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St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Wednesday afternoon with a ninth-inning single against the Colorado Rockies. The ground-ball hit means Walker has tied Eddie Murphy (1912) for the longest hitting streak to begin a career by a player aged 20 or younger since 1900.

Walker's single came against righty reliever Connor Seabold. A few minutes later, he sped home to score the final run of the game on Paul Goldschmidt's double. The Cardinals prevailed by a score of 7-4. 

Assuming he's in the lineup for the series opener against the Pirates in St. Louis -- he's played in every game thus far in 2023 -- Walker will aiming to break his tie with Murphy on Thursday night. Here's the updated list of those longest hitting streaks to begin a career by a hitter age 20 or younger: 

T-1. Eddie Murphy, 1912 Philadelphia Athletics: 12 games
T-1. Jordan Walker, 2023 St. Louis Cardinals: 12 games and counting
3. Ted Williams, 1939 Boston Red Sox: 9 games

Williams, of course, was at the onset of a career that would eventually make him an inner-circle Hall of Famer. Though not nearly as successful, Murphy appeared in parts of 11 big-league seasons and won a pair of World Series titles. One came with the 1913 Athletics, the other with the 1917 Chicago White Sox.

It's worth noting that without the age requirement, the longest hitting streak to begin an MLB career is 17. That mark was set by both Chuck Aleno (1941 Reds) and, more recently, David Dahl (2016 Rockies). Here's that list, which Walker will have a chance to join in his next game: 

Walker, who will celebrate his 21st birthday in May, entered Tuesday batting .326/.370/.512 (138 OPS+) with two home runs and eight runs batted in. He was ranked by CBS Sports as the sixth-best prospect in the sport earlier this spring. The Cardinals later decided to carry him on their Opening Day roster.