Choi Nearly Perfect in Come-Back Win

Rancho Cucamonga, CA – Another wild night at LoanMart Field saw the Quakes score the game’s last four runs to come from behind and beat Inland Empire by a final of 4-3.

Last Saturday’s game ended with Diego Cartaya’s walk-off grand slam. This Saturday’s game didn’t make it to the bottom of the ninth, but it didn’t lack drama either.

The drama started in the top of the eighth, with the Quakes trailing 3-2 and reliever Hyun-Il Choi on an incredible run of 13 straight batters retired since entering in the third inning.

Jeremy Arocho led off the eighth with a liner back to the mound, which Choi caught for the first out. Tempers flared however and Arocho got tangled up with Quakes’ catcher Wladimir Chalo. Benches and bullpens emptied and order was eventually restored.

Fast-forward to the bottom of the eighth and things got even more interesting. With one out, Sauryn Lao reached on an infield hit to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. After a pop-up by Brandon Wulff for the second out, Chalo wore the first pitch from reliever Emilker Guzman in the hip. Guzman (0-2) was ejected immediately, causing more tempers to flare up.

With two outs and two men on, Edwin Mateo delivered the game-tying single, plating Lao to even the game at 3-3. Sam McWilliams followed with an opposite-field hit to right, scoring Chalo with what turned out to be the winning run.

In the ninth, the Sixers went quietly, as Aldry Acosta set them down in order for his second save of the year.

Choi (2-2) was brilliant in the win, retiring the first 15 hitters that he faced before ultimately retiring 16 of 17 on the night and finishing with eight punch-outs.

Rancho (15-13) will go with Kendall Williams (1-0) on Sunday, while Inland Empire will answer with Jack Dashwood in the series-finale from LoanMart Field. Game time is 2:00pm and tickets are available at rcquakes.com.

The first 750 fans through the gates on Sunday will take home a Walker Buehler Replica Jersey, thanks to San Manuel Casino. Gates open at 1pm and tickets are available at rcquakes.com.

The game can be heard live, with the pregame show starting at 6:15pm with Mike Lindskog. To listen live, visit our website at rcquakes.com and click the Listen Live button, open 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!