Indians minor league recap: Scoring change extends Francisco Mejia's hit streak to 50

While most people would be upset that Tribe affiliates went winless yesterday, going 0-4 with three rainouts, there was also plenty of cause for celebration.

Francisco Mejia benefited from some serious administrative luck, watching his 49-game hitting streka come to an end, then be saved by an overturned official scorer's ruling.

Also, top slugging prospect Bobby Bradley had a big night.

Details? Okay.

Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Winston-Salem Dash 7 (F/10)

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 73-46

It was a roller coaster evening for Indians catching super-prospect Francisco Mejia, who entered the night on a 49-game hitting streak. He popped up in his first at bat, then hit a sharp ground ball down the third base line which went under the third baseman's glove. What looked like a double was initially ruled an error.

Mejia then struck out, grounded out to the third baseman and with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, he only saw one pitch that was even close to the strike zone (which he crushed foul), eventually taking a rare walk. The Hillcats would tie the game in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a heroic effort from Bobby Bradley, who had hit a home run to lead off the eighth, and then smacked a broken bat blooper to knock in the tying run.

Unfortunately, Jared Robinson would give up a two-run homer in the top of the 10th and the Hillcats would lose 7-5.

But the story doesn't end there!

After the game, the official scorekeeper for the game reviewed Mejia's second inning plate appearance and reversed his decision, giving the 20-year old a double and extending his hit streak to 50 games. Here's the play in question:

The Lynchburg Hillcats also released an official statement about the scorekeeper's decision:

"After reviewing additional data and watching video of the play, the official scorer decided to rule Mejia's batted ball in the third inning a double. The video review showed that the ball was struck far enough away from the backhand of the third baseman (Montilla) and hit with enough force and topspin to prevent Montilla from making the play with ordinary effort. Based on this, the official scorer changed the error to a hit."

Starting pitcher Thomas Pannone, who returned from a two-and-a-half week stint on the disabled list due to a blister on his throwing hand, was solid over four innings, giving up two runs in the first before settling in and striking out five batters.

Robinson pitched the remaining six innings and I'm not quite sure what the Indians organization sees in him at this point. He was not good with Lake County this year and has been even worse with Lynchburg (8.53 ERA) since being promoted.

Lake County Captains 3, Great Lakes Loons 6

Box Score · Captains fall to 60-57

Lake County mailed this one in, losing in pretty much all facets of the game as they were outhit, outpitched and overpowered by Great Lakes.

The offense only managed four hits, but one of them was a two-run home run by Sam Haggerty.

Pitching-wise, Shiao-Ching Chiang did not have his best stuff, surrendering four runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings of work, including two home runs given up.

Erick Algarin put it out of reach by giving up two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

AZL Indians 3, AZL Dodgers 4

Box Score · Indians fall to 24-19

With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Luis Santos failed to keep the AZL Dodgers from walking off, giving up a run to take the loss.

Oscar Gonzalez had a good game for the AZL Indians, going 2-4 with a double. Elvis Perez also had a double, picking up two of the team's three runs batted in overall. Perez was also the only starter who didn't strike out in the game.

Gregori Vasquez had a quality start for the Indians, going six innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits while striking out two.

DSL Indians 8, DSL Pirates 12

Box Score · Indians fall to 23-37

The DSL Indians finally put some runs on the board, managing eight in total on 10 hits, but the pitching let them down in a big way.

Christopher Cespedes led the way for the Indians, going 2-5 with a triple and two runs batted in. Wilbis Santiago and Jonathan Lopez also had two hits, and Santiago managed to steal a base as well.

Starting pitcher Luis Valdez didn't even make it one inning, walking four batters in the process, while Jose Oca couldn't even get one out in the second frame, giving up five runs in 0.1 innings total. The Indians scored a solid six runs in the first three innings, but gave up 10 in that same time period, which resulted in yet another loss.

* * *

The Columbus Clippers, Akron Rubberducks and Mahoning Valley Scrappers all had their games postponed due to the rain