• Find team by: Affiliation | Class | Geography
     
06/15/2007 10:43 PM ET
41 and counting for Clippers' Watson
Singles twice to inch closer to IL hitting streak record
By Marissa Rega / Special to MLB.com
Brandon Watson is 8-for-13 with two RBIs and two runs scored in his last three games. (Joy R. Absalon/MLB.com)

ADVERTISEMENT
• Box score
• Lelivelt was a hit machine
• Watson hits the big 4-0
• Brandon Watson's player page

Brandon Watson extended his Minor League season-best hitting streak to 41 games Friday, but Bubba Nelson tossed eight strong innings as the Ottawa Lynx defeated the Columbus Clippers, 4-1.

Watson flied out in the first inning and was retired on a bunt in the third before lining a base hit to center field in the sixth. He singled again in the ninth to cap his third straight multi-hit game.

The 25-year-old center fielder is batting .361 (60-for-166) with five doubles, a triple, 18 runs scored and 10 RBIs since going hitless against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 30.

His streak is one game from tying the International League record, set by Jack Lelivelt in 1912 with Rochester. Herbert Chapman also hit in 42 consecutive games with Gadsden in 1950.

Streaking in the Minors
The longest hitting streaks in Minor League history:
#
 69
61
55
50
49
49
46
43
43
43
42
42
41
40
38
38
38
37
37
 Player
 Joe Wilhoit
Joe DiMaggio
Roman Mejias
Otto Pahlman
Jack Ness
Harry Chozen
Johnny Bates
Eddie Marshall
Howie Bedell
Orlando Moreno
Jack Lelivelt
Herbert Chapman
Brandon Watson
Frosty Kennedy
Mitch Hilligoss
Hubert Mason
Paul Owens
Joey Cora
Bobby Trevino
 Team (League)
 Wichita (WL)
San Francisco (PCL)
Waco (BSL)
Danville (III)
Oakland (PCL)
Mobile (SA)
Nashville (SA)
Milwaukee (AA)
Louisville (AA)
Big Spring (LHL)
Rochester (IL)
Gadsden (SEL)
Columbus (IL)
Plainview (WT-NM)
Charleston (SAL)
Binghamton (EL)
Orleans (PONY)
Las Vegas (PCL)
El Paso (TL)
 Year
 1919
1933
1954
1922
1915
1945
1925
1935
1961
1947
1912
1950
2007
1953
2007
1925
1951
1989
1969

Nelson (2-1) gave up one run on four hits with a strikeout in his longest outing of the season. The 25-year-old right-hander started the year with Double-A Reading, where he was 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA in 14 games.

Brian Sanches tossed a scoreless ninth to notch his 10th save and end Ottawa's four-game slide.

The Lynx (28-35) trailed, 1-0, when Pedro Swann slammed a solo homer, his second, with one out in the fifth. Gary Burnham sparked a three-run eighth with an RBI single. Jim Rushford followed with a run-scoring double and Danny Sandoval capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

Larry Broadway led off the third with his fifth homer to give the Clippers (30-37) a 1-0 lead.

Reliever Emiliano Fruto (3-2) took the loss after surrendering four runs on six hits and three walks over four frames. Jason Bergmann yielded two hits and struck out one over three scoreless innings in a rehab start.

The Clippers turned three double plays.

Marissa Rega is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.