Rancho Comes Up Short in 6-3 Loss
Rancho Cucamonga, CA - The Quakes fell 6-3 to the Lake Elsinore Storm on Tuesday night. It was the second time in as many nights that Rancho Cucamonga (5-8) could not recover from an early deficit against the Storm.
The game was scoreless until the third inning. Casey McElroy and John Nester hit consecutive singles off of Lindsey Caughel (0-1, 3.79 ERA) to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Alberth Martinez grounded into an RBI fielder's choice to score McElroy from third and give Lake Elsinore (6-7) the first run of the night. Two batters later, Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run shot over the fence in left field and the Storm led 3-0. It was the second consecutive game with a home run for Renfroe, who has four on the year.
Lake Elsinore added another run in the fifth inning on an RBI triple from shortstop Stephen Carmon. Rancho starter Lindsey Caughel was solid in six innings of work, but took the loss for the Quakes.
The Rancho Cucamonga offense couldn't get to Lake Elsinore starter Colin Rea (1-0, 7.50 ERA) until the sixth inning. Adam Law walked to lead off the inning and Corey Seager followed with a single to center field. Chris Jacobs doubled down the left field line, scoring both Law and Seager. The two runs brought the Quakes within two of Lake Elsinore.
It was Lake Elsinore who struck next with an unearned run off of Freddie Cabrera in the eighth inning. Stephen Carmon reached on a one-out error by third baseman Leo Rodriguez and scored on a single by Gabriel Quintana. The Quakes answered back with an unearned run of their own in the eighth inning. Adam Law, who reached base four times on Tuesday night, singled to lead off the inning. Jeremy Rathjen's double to left field was misplayed by Luis Domoromo, allowing Law to score from first and Rancho trailed 5-3.
The Storm added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning off of Dan Coulombe. Alberth Martinez drove in his second run of the game and his 16th of the season to give Lake Elsinore a three-run lead. Trevor Gott picked up his third save of the season with two strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth inning to finish the game off.
Rancho Cucamonga hosts Lake Elsinore for the final game of the series Wednesday night at LoanMart Field. First pitch is at 7:05 pm and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1350. It's the second Terra Vista Animal Hospital Bark in the Ballpark. Fans can bring their dogs to LoanMart Field for just $3 and all proceeds go to the Rancho Cucamonga Animal Shelter. Tickets are available by calling (909) 481-5000 or online at rcquakes.com. Hope to see you at LoanMart Field soon! Go Quakes!