Mejia's hit streak reaches 50 after postgame scoring change
In an unlikely turn of events, Cleveland Indians minor leaguer Francisco Mejia extended his historic hitting streak Saturday to 50 games after a controversial E-5 during the third inning was changed to a double by the official scorer following Class A Lynchburg's 7-5 loss to Winston-Salem.
Moments before the change, even the Indians had congratulated their highly-touted catcher on his streak - already tied for the sixth-longest in professional baseball history - after it appeared he went 0-for-4 with a walk in the extra-inning loss. Instead, Mejia, who was set to be dealt to Milwaukee in Cleveland's failed Jonathan Lucroy trade, now owns the longest streak in pro ball since Roman Mejias' 55-gamer in 1954.
| YEAR | PLAYER | GAMES |
|---|---|---|
| 1919 | Joe Wilhoit | 69 |
| 1933 | Joe DiMaggio | 61 |
| 1941 | Joe DiMaggio (MLB) | 56 |
| 1954 | Roman Mejias | 55 |
| 2016 | Francisco Mejia | 50 |
| 1922 | Otto Pahlman | 50 |
The Indians' fourth-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, Mejia's streak looked to be over after he walked during his final plate appearance of the night during the ninth inning. Several innings earlier, the 20-year-old Dominican prospect reached base after his ground ball rolled under the glove of Winston-Salem third baseman Gerson Montilla, who was charged with an error.
Then, in an unexpected twist, the official scorer spent roughly an hour in the clubhouse after the game - most of which was apparently in Lynchburg manager Mark Budzinski's office, according to Mark Robertson of News & Advance - before the scoring change was announced about an hour after the game ended.
"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," read a statement from the Hillcats. "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 preview Montilla from making the play with ordinary effort."
Mejia's epic run - which has coincided with the 75-year anniversary of Joe DiMaggio's MLB-record 56-game hitting streak - has endured plenty of ups and downs, from the unsuccessful trade to the Brewers to him being promoted to Lynchburg 24 games into his streak. He has also dealt with the flu, a shoulder injury, played in the minor-league All-Star Game and Futures Game, and has caught 40 of his teams' 50 games during the streak.
(Video courtesy: MiLB.com)