Mejia takes hard-luck no-decision

Sometimes, the baseball fates can be cruel.

Against the Great Lakes (Mich.) Loons on July 30 at Classic Park, they dealt an unkind hand to Captains starter Jean Carlos Mejia in what ended as a 3-0 victory for the Loons.

Mejia was close to perfect through six innings. He’d faced 19 batters, one over the limit, and had not yielded a hit.

When the 21-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic retired Loons shortstop Brandon Montgomery on a routine fly to center field to start the top of the seventh, he was eight outs away from a no-hitter.

The next batter, Drew Avans, punched a single to right-center field to end the no-hit bid. Mejia got through the rest of the frame impressively, posting two strikeouts. As he made his way off the mound, he was given a spirited ovation by fans in the seats behind the Lake County dugout.

Mejia’s night was done at that point. He’d surrendered one hit in seven innings, striking out 10 and issuing one walk. He’d thrown 87 pitches, 59 for strikes.

It was the second straight standout performance by Mejia. Against the West Michigan Whitecaps on July 25, he blanked the host Whitecaps on three hits through seven innings. That outing also produced 10 strikeouts. The Captains squeaked out a 1-0 win against West Michigan.

They didn’t get the job done against Great Lakes. The Loons got to normally stingy relievers Nick Broom and Kyle Nelson, scoring one run in the top of the eighth off Broom and two more in the top of the ninth with Nelson on the mound.

The Captains got nine hits off four Great Lakes pitchers but stranded nine baserunners. Broom (0-1, 1.29 ERA) absorbed the loss for the Captains. Sven Schueller (12, 4.84 ERA) picked up the win for the Loons.

Captains manager Luke Carlin smiled when it was suggested Mejia deserved better than he got.

“He was really good tonight,” Carlin said. “It’s fun to watch him when he’s on his game like that.”

Mejia is 3-4 with a 2.64 ERA. In 12 appearances (10 starts) covering 61 1/3 innings, he has 67 strikeouts.