Quakes Double-Up 66ers 12-6, Teams Combine for 35 Strikeouts…Again

San Bernardino, CA- The Inland Empire 66ers fell to 0-2 in the young 2021 season dropping a wild affair to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Wednesday 12-6 at San Manuel Stadium. For the second straight night the teams combined to strikeout out 35 times! Yes, an exclamation point in a game recap and it will not be the only one. Sixers’reliever Jose Salvador struck out the first ten batters he faced consecutively and notched 12 Ks in 4.1 innings!

Inland Empire got on the board on the first pitch the club saw when Caleb Scires (1) took Quakes’ starter Robbie Peto deep for a solo shot. The Quakes (2-0) answered in a big way however in the second dropping six runs against IE starter John Swanda (0-1) highlighted by a grand slam by Rancho third baseman Brandon Lewis, his first of homer of the year. The teams traded runs throughout but a three-run ninth put it away for the Quakes. RC reliever Julian Smith earned the win with 4.0 innings of one-hit, one-run work; he allowed two walks and fanned seven to improve to 1-0. Salvador set a franchise record with the ten consecutive K’s. The southpaw was acquired as part of a trade with Cincinnati in 2020 for OF Brian Goodwin. Kyren Paris had a walk, single, triple and two stolen bases for the Sixers in the loss. Edwin Mateo had two hits and three RBI for the Quakes. IE pitchers fanned 19 batters while the Quakers hurlers set down 16. The teams combined for eight errors, five coming from the victors.

The series continues Thursday at 7:05 pm. The contest can be seen and heard at 66ers.com.