Quakes Still Alive with Late Win Over 66ers

San Bernardino, CA – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes rallied and then held on to stay alive in the playoff race, securing an 11-10 victory over the Inland Empire 66ers on Sunday night at San Manuel Stadium.

A four-run rally in the seventh inning and some clutch work out of the bullpen helped prevent Inland Empire from clinching a playoff berth in their home finale on Sunday evening.

Trailing 7-4 in the sixth, Rancho ripped off seven straight runs over the next three innings to take an 11-7 lead.

Inland Empire got three back in the last of the eighth though and had the tying run on base to open the ninth inning against Livan Reinoso. Reinoso hit Arol Vera with a pitch to bring the winning run to the plate to open the ninth. Reinoso settled down though, as he got Jadiel Sanchez to pop up, then enduced Kevin Watson, Jr. into a soft line drive to short. Shortstop Alex Freeland caught the line drive and quickly fired an off-balance throw to first to double up Vera, ending the game.

Freeland had a strong game overall, as in just his third career game, he cracked his first professional homer and finished with two hits.

Yeiner Fernandez had one hit, but led the team with three RBIs. Dalton Rushing had three hits and an RBI to lead the Rancho offense, which pounded out 13 hits on the night. Taylor Young, and Griffin Lockwood-Powell also chipped in, each with two hits and an RBI.

Rancho reliever Heisell Baro (3-0) was credited with the win, as he allowed just one run over 2.1 innings.

Inland Empire reliever Michael Darrell-Hicks (2-1) was tagged with the loss, as he gave up four runs, while recording just one out in the seventh inning.

The Quakes (31-29, 67-59) are still alive for a playoff spot, although they need to run the table in the six-game set with Lake Elsinore, while having Visalia do the same to Inland Empire next week.

On Tuesday, the Quakes will send Jacob Meador (0-1) to the mound in his first start, as he’ll take on Lake Elsinore’s Duncan Snider in the opening game of the final home stand.

Tuesday’s home stand begins with a Healthy RC Recycle Tuesday as you can score a free Club Seat Ticket to the game by visiting rcquakes.com. Tickets for the entire home stand are available at rcquakes.com. We hope to see you at LoanMart Field...Go Quakes!