Quakes Take Another Nail-Biter

San Bernardino, CA – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes got off to a strong start, but had to hold on late, as they outlasted the Inland Empire 66ers on Thursday night at San Manuel Stadium, winning by a score of 6-5.

Rancho jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first, but Inland chipped away all night and eventually left the tying run at third base in the ninth inning, giving the Quakes a fourth straight win overall and three straight over the 66ers to open the six-game set.

66ers’ starter Coleman Crow had a tough go of it early, as the first four Quakes would reach and score. Edwin Mateo tripled home Jake Vogel, then scored on a double by Jose Ramos, making it 2-0. Aldrich de Jongh’s sac fly made it 3-0 before a fielder’s choice off the bat of Yeiner Fernandez made it 4-0.

Inland got a run in each of the first three innings, against starter Jimmy Lewis and reliever Kyle Hurt, respectively, making it 4-3.

The Quakes upped the lead to 6-3 in the fifth, getting two more against Crow (4-3). Fernandez, making his Rancho debut on Thursday, picked up his second RBI with a single to score Ramos, making it 5-3. Luis Diaz followed with a run-scoring double, putting Rancho up 6-3.

Inland Empire wouldn’t go away though, as they got a run off Martin Santana in the seventh and threatened in the ninth against Carlos De Los Santos. But with runners at first and third with two outs, De Los Santos got Starlin Gill to ground to third base, as Diaz made a strong throw to get the runner at second, ending the game and giving De Los Santos his second save.

Hurt (1-2) earned the win in relief, as he allowed just one unearned run over three innings, fanning five along the way.

The Quakes (62-49) look for a fifth straight win on Friday, sending Kendall Williams (3-3) against Jack Kochanowicz (4-2) of the 66ers. Game time on Friday will be 7:05pm.

On Tuesday, September 14th, the Quakes return home to face the Visalia Rawhide for their final series of 2021. Tuesday the 14th will be Temblores Tuesday, presented by the Art Laboe Show Live. Tickets are available at rcquakes.com.

All games can be heard live with Mike Lindskog, by visiting our website at rcquakes.com and click the Listen Live button. You can also download the iHeart Radio app and find the RC Quakes Radio channel or on the Tune-In Radio app, by searching keyword Quakes. Have Amazon Alexa or a Google Home? You can use voice command to get the Quakes too, by enabling the Alexa and Google Skills for both iHeart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

We hope to see you at LoanMart Field very soon!