Mejia’s streak snaps at 50, but Lynchburg wins, 6-0

Francisco Mejia went 0-3 with a walk and an RBI in the series finale, which ended his hitting streak at 50 games. Matt Esparza,Billy Strode, Jordan Milbrath, and Mitch Brown combined to pitch the Hillcats’ 12th shutout of the season. The Hillcats avoided being swept and took the series finale against the Dash, 6-0. Bobby Bradley hit a home run for the third consecutive game.

Matt Esparza held the Dash scoreless in his 5 2/3 innings of work. He struck out six batters while only allowing five hits and one walk. He earned his first win as a Hillcat and lowered his ERA with the team to 1.88 in the process. Billy Strode entered in the sixth to strike out Zack Collins. The lefty retired all four batters. Jordan Milbrath and Mitch Brown each tossed an inning for Lynchburg in the shutout. Brown struck out the side in order to close out the game.

Lynchburg wasted no time scoring for the second consecutive game. Tyler Krieger led off with a single in the first and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Bradley. Three more Hillcats scored in the third inning to stretch the lead to 4-0. Yonathan Mendoza and Tyler Krieger singled to put runners on the corners to begin the stanza. Francisco Mejia grounded out to bring inMendoza. Bradley hit his league leading 25^th roundtripper to drive in two more.

The Hillcats plated two more in the sixth frame after Taylor Murphy doubled to set up Claudio Bautista. Bautista hit his first home run as a Hillcat since June 3 to drive in two runs.

Francisco Mejia’s streak ends at 50 games, which is tied for the fourth-longest in MiLB history…During the streak Mejia batted .380 with 25 extra-base hits and 21 multi-hit games…He went 81 days between hitless contests with his last one on May 25…The Hillcats improved to 12-1 in shutout games.

Lynchburg begins its final series with Frederick Monday at 7 p.m. Luis Lugo (8-3, 3.56) will start the game for the ‘Cats. Lucas Long (6-6, 4.35) will counter for the Keys. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 6:45 p.m.