Garcia belts three homers for Quakes

Jon Garcia reminded the Dodgers what he's capable of on Saturday night. And it's hard not to be impressed.

"When he does it right, this is the type of game he can have," said Rancho Cucamonga hitting coach Mike Eylward.

Garcia hit three homers and collected a career-high seven RBIs to power the Class A Advanced Quakes to a 16-13 victory at Lancaster.

It was Rancho Cucamonga's first three-homer game in a little less than two years ago, when Joc Pederson did it.

"I was very comfortable in the box after I hit the first home run," Garcia said through a translator.

It was Garcia's fourth career multi-homer game and first three-hit outing since May 3. He'd been 6-for-47 over his previous 12 games after struggling to a .071 average over nine games for Double-A Chattanooga at the start of the season.

"Jonny's been working hard in the cage. He's had his struggles, but we've just had to clean up a little minor mechanical stuff," Eylward said. "He gets himself out on certain pitches, but it's really just about working on the minor mechanical flaws."

His first two dingers came against top Astros pitching prospect Mark Appel, who was making his first start after returning from a trip to extended spring training meant to help him adjust to pro ball. Appel surrendered 10 runs on 10 hits and a walk over 1 1/3 innings as his Cal League ERA climbed to 11.93.

Eylward didn't know why last year's top overall Draft pick labored so much.

"This was the first time we saw him, so I'm not really sure," he said. "He definitely has the stuff. But since it's the first time we've seen him, I can't comment on whether he just had a bad day or something was off about his stuff."

Garcia's first homer, a two-run shot, capped a five-run first inning.

"I didn't feel like I [broke the game open], I just felt like I was helping the team," the 22-year-old outfielder said. "Contributing felt good, but it was still the first inning."

His second, a three-run jack that gave Rancho Cucamonga a 10-0 lead, chased Appel.

"He didn't try to pitch me differently," Garcia said, explaining that the JetHawks came at him with the same plan they had in Friday's series opener. "They pitched me away, and [Appel] kept that same approach the whole time."

Garcia hit another two-run homer in the fourth, this time taking Zach Morton deep.

"I took the third at-bat just like I took the first two," said the Puerto Rico native. "I wasn't trying to hit a home run. I just wanted to keep everything the same, the same mentality, the same swing, everything."

Garcia popped out and lined out in his final two at-bats.

The JetHawks scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth and had a runner on first before Rancho Cucamonga snuffed the threat. Eylward and the rest of the Quakes were especially nervous because of the blustery conditions for which The Hangar is known.

"We are in Lancaster, so anything can happen. You expect those type of games," he said. "Obviously, we hoped it would be easy in the end, but that's part of where we are right now."

Top Dodgers prospect Corey Seager missed the cycle by a triple and drove in a season-high five runs for Rancho Cucamonga.

"Corey's coming along well. He's also cleaned up minor stuff in his mechanics," Eylward said. "He works hard every day. He's a student of the game and he wants to be perfect on just about everything. He understands what he needs to do and he's doing fine."

Julio Urias, who at the age of 17 is the Dodgers' top pitching prospect, allowed three hits over three scoreless innings. He walked one, struck out one and lowered his ERA to 3.82.

Carlos Correa, MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect went 2-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in a losing cause.