Indians minor league recap: Francisco Mejia extends hitting streak to 42 games

It was a bittersweet day last night, as eight Indians prospects nearly left the system before Jonathan Lucroy vetoed a trade.

Still, Clint Frazier, Ben Heller, JP Feyereisen and Justus Sheffield are all headed to New York for LHP Andrew Miller. Heller and Frazier both played yesterday, performing admirably in their final appearances in the Tribe farm system.

Let's get to it:

Columbus Clippers 11, Charlotte Knights 2

Box Score · Clippers improve to 60-48

After only scoring once on Friday, the Columbus Clippers had an offensive eruption yesterday.

Ronny Rodriguez led the way with a three-hit game including two home runs. Yhoxian Medina joined Rodriguez with a three-hit day as well including a double while Bradley Zimmer reached base safely three times and stole his first Triple-A base.

Starting pitcher Ryan Merrit was superb, tossing six shutout innings on six hits while striking out four and walking none.

In his final appearance in the Indians system, reliever Ben Heller pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout.

Akron RubberDucks 2, Bowie Baysox 3 (F/10)

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 55-53

Akron slugged plenty of hits yesterday, but none came at opportune enough times for them to put many runs on the board. Todd Hankins, Jordan Smith and Jeremy Lucas all had two-hit games for the RubberDucks, with Lucas and Smith both collecting doubles on the day.

Starting pitcher Michael Peoples was solid, tossing 6.2 innings while giving up just two runs and putting Akron in a position to win. Unfortunately, the score was tied 2-2 after nine and the game went into extra innings.

Grant Sides would give up an unearned run in the top of the 10th and the RubberDucks failed to respond in the bottom, resulting in the tough luck loss.

Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Winston-Salem Dash 2

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 67-38

Every player on the Hillcats had a hit yesterday, and that included catching prospect Francisco Mejia, who extended his hitting streak to 42 games with an infield chopper that he hustled and beat out.

The big offensive hero of the game was Taylor Murphy, who collected three hits on the day including a laser beam two-run homer. Anthony Santander, who has been red hot the past month, also homered, his 17th of the season.

Starting pitcher Luis Lugo gave up two runs in 5.2 innings, striking out five, walking three and giving up three hits. Trevor Frank struck out the side in the ninth to collect his ninth save of the season.

Lake County Captains 2, West Michigan Whitecaps 5

Box Score · Captains fall to 54-50

Starting pitcher Brock Hartson's ERA actually went down due to one earned run allowed yesterday, but he gave up five runs overall on the day thanks to two Lake County errors.

The Captains didn't show up offensively yesterday, going just 2-7 with runners in scoring position to lose 5-2 despite out-hitting West Michigan 10-7. None of those 10 hits were for extra bases, but Jodd Carter did collect three hits on the day and he was joined in his multi-hit game by Angel Miguel and Bobby Ison.

Erik Algarin provided 2.1 innings of perfect relief for Lake County, but the team was unable to rally.

AZL Indians 3, AZL Brewers 9

Box Score · Indians fall to 22-10

It wasn't a pretty performance by AZL Indians pitchers yesterday. Justin Garza failed to get out of the first inning, giving up two runs in 0.1 innings.

2015 first round pick Brady Aiken started the second inning and also failed to get out of the frame, giving up five runs (four earned) in just 0.2 innings of work.

With the hole dug pretty deep, the high powered Indians offense was unable to respond. Trenton Brooks was the only Indian with a multi-hit game, going 2-5 on the day, while Nolan Jones picked up his first extra base hit of the season, a double, while also collecting a walk in the loss.

DSL Indians 6, DSL Cubs1 5 

Box Score · Indians improve to 22-26

Down 4-1 in the seventh inning, the DSL Indians furiously rallied back with a three run seventh thanks to an RBI single from Miguel Jerez and some poor fielding by the DSL Cubs1.

The DSL Cubs1 took the lead in the bottom of the eighth but pinch hitter Pablo Jimenez blasted a solo shot in the top of the ninth to tie the game. The Indians took the lead on a wild pitch and shut down the Cubs in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win.