Mejia’s epic streak ends, then extends to 50

From ended to extended.

Francisco Mejia’s historic hitting streak had come to an end at 49 games after the Indians prospect went 0-for-4 in the Class A Advanced Lynchburg Hillcats’ 7-5, 10-inning loss to Winston-Salem on Saturday. But then the epic run was resuscitated when word came — an hour after the completion of the game — that the official scorer had changed a controversial call from an E5 to a double.

After fouling out to first in his first at-bat, the 20-year-old Dominican reached base in the third inning when he dribbled a grounder to third base. The ball rolled under the glove of Dash third baseman Gerson Montilla, who was charged with an error that fans and broadcasters alike questioned. But the call stood until after the game ended, with Mejia’s streak seemingly over.

There was plenty of drama surrounding Mejia after the controversial third-inning call, even before the call was changed.

Mejia struck out in the fifth, and when he grounded out in the seventh with the Hillcats trailing, 4-3, there was no guarantee that he would bat again. But after Winston-Salem added another run in the top of the eighth, Lynchburg scored a run in the bottom half, sending five batters to the plate and leaving Mejia due up fourth in the bottom of the ninth.

A one-out single sandwiched between a fly out and a strikeout brought Mejia to the plate with two outs in the ninth. A wild pitch moved the tying run into scoring position, and with a 2-2 count, Mejia narrowly avoided being hit by a pitch, pushing the count full. The 3-2 offering then missed low, all but ending any of hope of Mejia extending his streak.

The Hillcats did tie the game and force extra innings when the next batter, Bobby Bradley, flared an RBI single to center, but the Dash responded with two runs in the top of the 10th, and the Hillcats went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the frame.

Mejia’s streak is now tied for the fourth-longest in Minor League history and is the longest since Roman Mejias hit in 55 straight for Waco in 1954. Mejia, the Indians’ No. 4 prospect, passed Jack Ness and Harry Chozen, who hit in 49 straight games in 1915 and ’45, respectively, and tied Otto Pahlman (1922).

Mejia has posted a .386/.414/.599 slash line with 15 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 42 RBIs during his streak, which started on May 27 and has lasted two and a half months.

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Longest Minor League hitting streaks Player Games Year Joe Wilhoit 69 1919 Joe DiMaggio 61 1933 Roman Mejias 55 1954 Francisco Mejia 50 2016 Otto Pahlman 50 1922 Jack Ness 49 1915 Harry Chozen 49 1945 Johnny Bates 46 1925 James McOwen 45 2009 Brandon Watson 43 2007 Eddie Marshall 43 1935 Orlando Moreno 43 1947 Howie Bedell 43 1961 Jack Lelivelt …

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