Indians minor league recap: Yandy Diaz, Francisco Mejia extend hitting streaks. Again

Yesterday was both a good and a bad day for hitting streaks. The two longest streaks, belonging to Yandy Diaz and Francisco Mejia, survived the day, but Giovanny Urshela’s was snapped and Greg Allen failed to hit for the first time since he was almost traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Normally when prospect homers twice in a game it’d be the headline, but thanks to Mejia continuing to make history, Mahoning Valley Scrapper outfielder Todd Isaacs is relegated to the second paragraph of the recap. He hit two balls out of the park for the Scrappers yesterday, including the walk-off game winner in extra innings.

Every affiliate played yesterday, and all enjoyed victories except the DSL Indians.

Columbus Clippers 3, Toledo Mud Hens 0

Box score · Clippers improve to 66-52

Yandy Diaz was able to extend his hitting streak to 28 games in the the Columbus Clippers’ third-straight win and their fifth victory in the last five. Unfortunately, Giovanny Urshela could not do the same, going 0-for-4 on the day.

The score could have been a lot higher, as the Clippers recorded 11 hits, but there was a distinct lack of clutch hitting. Columbus batters were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners. Bradley Zimmer was particularly ineffective, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

The bottom third of the lineup — Guillermo Quiroz, Michael Choice, and Yhoxian Medina — each added two hits on the day, including doubles from Quiroz and Choice.

Thanks to some great pitching, this game went from a potential heartbreaker to a close, shutout victory. Shawn Morimando led the charge, throwing 5.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and no walks. Austin Adams and Josh Martin combined to finish the game, striking out four over the final 3.2 frames.

Akron RubberDucks 6, Hartford Yard Goats 2

Box score · RubberDucks improve to 57-59

It looked like the Akron RubberDucks were never going to stop scoring at the start of this game. They came out of the gate with at least a run in every inning through the first three, to jump out to a 4-0 run lead early. That would be all they needed with a strong start from DJ Brown locking the Hartford Yard Goats down.

Mike Papi had a big game, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run batted in. His batting average finally eclipsed .200 on August 2, and it has been steadily climbing since, thanks to a series of good outings. His slash on the season now sits at .213/.336/.348 with the ‘Ducks.

Daniel Salters added two hits, both doubles, as did Jeremy Lucas, who hit his 11th home run of the season.

Greg Allen’s eight-game hitting streak was snapped yesterday, with maybe his worst game as a member of the Akron RubberDucks: zero hits in five at-bats.

As previously mentioned, DJ Brown had a great start, lasting seven innings and allowing just one earned run off of four hits. Louis Head closed out the game in the ninth inning, striking out two of the four batters he faced.

Lynchburg Hillcats 2, Potomac Patriots 1

Box score · Hillcats improve to 72-43

After several days off in a row, Francisco Mejia returned and extended his hit streak to 48 games. He didn’t do it by hitting a little bloop and calling it a day, either. The remarkable 20-year-old catcher was 3-for-4 with a double.

Mejia’s season has been incredible. Between Class-A and High-A he is slashing .348/.379/.552 with nine home runs. The last time he entered a game and did not exit with a hit was in late May.

Slugging first baseman Bobby Bradley got back on track, breaking out of a 1-for-15 slump by adding two hits, including a double.

Tyler Krieger and Connor Marabell, two stand-out batters from the Lake County Captains who were recently promoted to High-A, are going in different directions. Krieger was 1-for-3 yesterday as he continues to excel against Carolina League pitching, while Marabell went hitless on the day and dropped his slash to .180/.196/.260 with the Hillcats.

Matt Esparza was brilliant over seven innings of work, striking out three and allowing one earned run. He has been great since his own promotion from Class-A — he has allowed five earned runs in 18.1 innings of work with the Hillcats.

Lake County Captains 2, Dayton Dragons 0

Box score · Captains improve to 59-55

Juan De La Cruz led the Lake County Captains offense to victory with a 2-for-4 day. Five other Captains had hits on the day, including Jodd Carter, who has continued to dominate since his promotion from the Low-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

In 13 games with the Captains, Carter is slashing .347/.429/.449.

Trevor Foss threw six shutout innings for the Captains, striking out four and walking none. Foss was a recent addition to the farm system, having been signed to a minor-league deal on August 2. He was previously pitching in the independent Frontier League, and had a previous stint in the Los Angeles Angels minor league system.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 9, Batavia Muckdogs, 6

Box score · Scrappers improve to 23-27

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers did not make things easy, but after 11 innings they ended the night as winners.

The Scrappers entered the bottom of the 11th down, 5-6, tying the game quickly with a single from Alex Pantoja that plated Silento Sayles. Two batters later, with runners on first and third, Todd Isaacs hit a walk-off, three-run home run.

That was Isaacs’s second home run of the game, his first coming in the third inning. Isaacs is not normally considered a power hitter, but the 20-year-old now has five long balls on the season (3 in his last 3 games) and he is slugging .632.

Shane Bieber had a strong, three-inning start for the Scrappers, striking out two and allowing no earned runs off of a single hit. Switch-pitcher Ryan Perez struggled in his relief appearance, recording only one out and allowing three earned runs off three hits, including a home run.

Despite a slow start to the season, the Scrapers are heading into the stretch run strong. Five players — Erlin Cerda, Todd Isaacs, Andrew Calica, Gabrial Mejia, Tanner Tully, and Juan Hillman — were named as New York-Penn League All-Stars. And you can bet Triston McKenzie would have been on the list as well if he had not been promoted to the Lake County Captains.

AZL Indians 8, AZL Cubs 4

Box score · Indians improve to 24-16

Connor Capel, Samad Taylor, and Oscar Gonzalez all had two hits for the AZL Indians, while top 2016 draft pick Will Benson was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Randy Marte (which may or may not be Andy Marte in disguise) pitched a scoreless two innings with two strikeouts (okay, maybe he’s not Andy Marte in disguise).

DSL Indians 1, DSL Rangers1 2

Box score · Indians fall to 22-34

Well, we almost had a clean sweep in the minors. The DSL Indians were the only team to lose yesterday, and it took them 12 innings to do so.

Ronny Dominguez led the offense, going 2-for-5 with a run batted in. Luis Oviedo had a strong start over six innings, but the game winning run came against Christophers Santana in the 12th.