Mejia goes deep during three-hit night

Francisco Mejía's stay with the Indians earlier this month lasted one day and did not include an appearance on the field. But it might have provided the spark that turned his season around.
Cleveland's top prospect kicked off a four-run rally with a solo homer and finished with three hits as Triple-A Columbus edged Indianapolis, 5-3, on Thursday night at Huntington Park. Mejia also doubled, singled and walked during his sixth consecutive multi-hit effort and his eighth in nine games.
MLB.com's No. 16 overall prospect was batting .214/.271/.333 when he was promoted to Cleveland on June 11. He returned to Columbus the next day and has a .475/.508/.754 slash line since while hitting safely in 14 of 15 games.

Clippers manager Chris Tremie never wavered in the belief his young hitter would snap out of his April and May funk.
"I think he continued to work through his early-season issues like a true professional would," the skipper said. "He had a lot of good at-bats, but was hitting into some bad luck. He was always relaxed, stayed with it and now it's manifested itself into a really good approach at the plate. Maybe getting up [to the Majors] sparked him a bit, but he's got a lot of confidence right now."
Mejia singled to left field in the first inning and walked in the fourth, although he was stranded both times. The 22-year-old led off the sixth with a double to right, but was again left on base when the next three Clippers were retired in succession. Trailing in the eighth, 3-1, Mejia took a 1-1 pitch over the left-field fence for his seventh roundtripper of the season. Columbus scored three more times in the frame to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth. The club's manager partially attributed that rally to Mejia's leadoff blast.
"I think that was part of it," Tremie said. "That home run got things going and brought us to within a run. The next hitter reaches and the momentum just goes from there."
Gameday box score
Mejia was hitting .189 when May ended, but he busted out of his slump in a big way in June. The switch-hitting catcher is batting .438/.462/.697 this month while hitting safely in 20 of 22 games. He has 16 multi-hit performances in that span to bring his slash line for the season up to .277/.327/.435 with 25 extra-base hits and 36 RBIs in 65 games. He was named an International League All-Star Wednesday.
The Dominican Republic native made his Major League debut last season after turning in a strong campaign with Double-A Akron. He hit .297/.346/.490 in 97 games in the Eastern League and was promoted to Cleveland in September, appearing in 11 big league contests. 
"I think his struggles were just part of the adjustment to another level," Tremie said. "The pitching here is tough, but he's made the adjustments and the results are terrific right now. He does a great job playing day to day and competing. He wants to do well and has kept his mind on the tasks he needs to perform here."
In his first Triple-A game, Sam Haggerty's two-out, two-RBI single put Columbus ahead for good. Drew Maggi and Nellie Rodríguez drove in the Clippers' other runs

Starter Shao-Ching Chiang allowed three runs -- two earned -- on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Robert Zarate (0-1) retired the last batter in the eighth and Ben Taylor set down the side in order in the ninth for his sixth save.
Pirates No. 8 prospectKevin Newman doubled, singled and scored twice while No. 22 Jordan Luplow drove in two runs.
Indianapolis starter J.T. Brubaker surrendered five hits and two walks while tying his season high with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Enny Romero (1-1) retired one batter in the eighth and was charged with four runs -- three earned -- on one hit and three walks.