Tucker's bat, Rodgers' arm lift 'Hawks

LANCASTER, Calif. - Preston Tucker had three hits, including a homer, and drove in six runs and Brady Rodgers tossed five scoreless innings as the JetHawks beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 10-2, at LoanMart Field Tuesday night.

The win extended Lancaster's winning streak to a season-high seven games and extended their lead in the South Division to a season-high four and a half games after Inland Empire's loss at Stockton.

The JetHawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Tyler Heineman hit an inside-the-park home run in the second inning off starter Stephen Fife (0-1). Heineman hit a ball down the line in left field that rolled into bullpen. Leftfielder Bobby Coyle chased it down but hurt himself in the process allowing Heineman to come all the way around and score.

After adding another run on an error, the JetHawks came back with more offense in the third. Andrew Aplin, who was named Cal League Offensive Player of the Week earlier in the day, hit a one-out triple and scored on Tucker's single. The hits extended both player's hitting streaks to eight and 12 games respectively.

Fife, who was starting for the Quakes on a Major League rehab assignment, allowed four runs (three earned) over four innings. He gave up eight hits.

Lancaster scored against his replacement, Raydel Sanchez, in the fifth. Tucker whacked a two-run double into the right field gap to score Joe Sclafani and Aplin and give the JetHawks a 6-0 lead.

The runs were plenty for Rodgers (4-1) who allowed only two hits over five innings. The right-hander struck out four, walked one and retired the final 10 batters he faced. Rodgers now has thrown 11 consecutive scoreless innings over his last three outings.

Chris Devenski took over as the piggy-back starter and threw three scoreless innings before giving up a two-run double to O'Koyea Dickson in the ninth inning. Devenski picked up his first save of the season.

The JetHawks had already blown the game wide open off Garrett Gould in the top of the ninth. Brandon Meredith singled home Chris Epps and later in the inning, Tucker hit a three-run home run to right field to give the JetHawks 10 runs.

The 10-run scoring output marks the 12th time Lancaster has scored 10 or more runs this season.

Lancaster (31-20) will look for a sweep of the Quakes (25-26) on Wednesday night in the series finale at LoanMart Field. The game begins at 7:05 pm and the JetHawks will send Tyson Perez (2-3 7.36) to the mound against Lindsey Caughel (1-2, 4.24). All the action can be heard on AM 1380 and jethawks.com.

Don't miss a moment of the 2013 season as the JetHawks look to repeat as California League Champions. Season tickets and great ticket packages are available now. To order, call (661) 726-5400 or visit jethawks.com.