Quakes Use the "Force" in Saturday Win
Rancho Cucamonga, CA- Rancho Cucamonga, CA-The "Force" was with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Safeco Insurance Star Wars Night, as the club snapped their two game losing streak, beating the San Jose Giants at LoanMart field on Saturday, 4-3.
In front of Darth Vader and a sold-out crowd of 4,823, Rancho came from behind twice, snapping a two-game skid and ending San Jose's four-game winning streak.
San Jose scored in the first inning after Steven Duggar hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on an Andrew Susac single, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Chris Shaw. That made it 1-0 after the first.
The Quakes plated two in the bottom of the second, after Julian Leon walked, and Pin-Chieh Chen singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Erick Mejia followed with a two-run double to score both Leon and Chen, and Rancho took a 2-1 lead.
The see-saw game continued when San Jose scored two in the top of the third. After Duggar reached on an error and C.J Hinojosa singled, Susac doubled them both home to give the Giants a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the third, Rancho Cucamonga tied the game at 3-3 after Kyle Garlick blasted his eleventh home run of the season, and knocking his league-leading 37th RBI.
The game stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Mejia walked with two outs, bringing up Johan Mieses. Mieses rifled a ball to left field, but Johneshwy Fargas overran the ball and it went all the way to the wall, allowing Mejia to score all the way from first to score the winning run, as the Quakes evened the series against the Giants.
The Quakes won despite being outhit on Saturday night, 7-5. Garlick had the only multi-hit game for Rancho Cucamonga.
Phillip Pfeifer (2-0) earned his second win in as many appearances after two scoreless innings out of the Rancho bullpen. He took over for Bergjans who went the first five innings, and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and struck out eight in his return from the 7-day disabled list. Joe Broussard pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Scott Griggs earned his seventh save of the season by tossing a 1-2-3 ninth.
Mark Reyes started for San Jose, and he went six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts, receiving the no-decision. Dusten Knight (0-1) took the loss after allowing one unearned run on Fargas' error in two innings.
With the win, Rancho (29-14) reclaims a two-game lead in the South, thanks to High Desert's loss at home to Lancaster.
Coming up on Sunday, the Quakes are scheduled to welcome Dodgers' rehabber Scott Van Slyke, who is scheduled to start and play left field. Yaisel Sierra (2-1) will start for Rancho Cucamonga in game three against Giants' right-hander Jason Forjet (4-2).
Also on Sunday, kids can enjoy free baseball instruction from Quakes' players and coaches, in addition to an autograph session, thanks to U.S. Bank. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the clinic begins at 10 a.m. Additionally, it's a Kids-Eat-Free Sunrun Sunday, as all kids will enjoy a FREE Tremor meal, which includes a hot dog, chips and a drink, thanks to Sunrun. Game time is 2:05pm and tickets are available at (909) 481-5000 or online at rcquakes.com. We hope to see you at LoanMart Field very soon...Go Quakes!