July 2, 2015 – Gio Urshela’s Odd Hitting Streak
Closing out the 2014 season, Giovanny Urshela was regarded as the Indians top prospect. He was called up to the Majors on June 8th, and made his debut in Game 59.
By Game 77, Gio has already accomplished something (however odd) that no Indian had ever done. Jason Lukehart of SB Nation noted that Urshela had one hit–and no more–in twelve consecutive games. A search of the baseball reference database revealed that Rocky Colavito had one hit–and no more than one–in eleven consecutive games in 1958, making Urshela the franchise leader for this very odd distinction.
Keeping a hitting streak going is widely regarded as one of the most difficult accomplishments in baseball, where a 30% success rate at the plate can make you an All-Star. However, hitters on a hot streak usually succeed well past the minimum. Urshela’s streak to this point included eleven singles and a home run. He batted .293 during these twelve games–good, but nothing groundbreaking.
Gio’s single hit came in the top of the fourth with a line drive to center off the Rays’ Alex Colome. He advanced to second on a single by Michael Bourn, tagged up on a Roberto Perez fly out, and was driven home by a line drive by Jason Kipnis. Urshela’s run scored was the Indians fifth of the night, and they would go on to win 8-1 behind a brilliant start by Carlos Carrasco wherein he struck out thirteen and only gave up one hit in 8 ⅔ innings of work.
Urshela extended the one-hit streak to 15 games. He was unable to get a hit in Game 81, which was a 5-3 loss in Pittsburgh.
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