Rancho Cucamonga, CA - Jeter Downs drove in a career-high five runs and the Quakes earned their first home win of 2019 with a 7-3 victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday night at LoanMart Field.Swept by the Lancaster JetHawks this past weekend at home, Rancho won their fourth
Rancho Cucamonga, CA - Jeter Downs drove in a career-high five runs and the Quakes earned their first home win of 2019 with a 7-3 victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday night at LoanMart Field.
Swept by the Lancaster JetHawks this past weekend at home, Rancho won their fourth straight game overall, but earned their first win on their own field since clinching the 2018 Championship Series over Visalia.
Downs, who finished the game with one hit but five runs knocked in, smashed his first home run as a Quake, a grand slam in the second inning, putting Rancho on the board and in the lead to stay at 4-0 against Giants' starter Aaron Philliips (0-2).
Quakes' starter Michael Grove looked impressive over his first two innings, striking out four of the seven batters he faced. But Grove gave up a double and then a homer to Logan Baldwin in the third, as the Giants cut the lead in half at 4-2. Grove would walk the next hitter and be pulled in favor of Wills Montgomerie, who not only got out of the inning, but had a terrific night in relief. Montgomerie (1-0) earned the win by allowing just one run on three hits, fanning seven over 4 2/3 innings.
The Giants got a run back in the seventh, but saw Rancho break it open in the eighth. After a wild pitch brought home a run, Brayan Morales tripled home Nick Yarnall, then scored on a Downs' sac fly, capping the scoring at 7-3.
Max Gamboa struck out three batters in the ninth to wrap up a solid night for the Rancho bullpen.
The Quakes (9-6) are now in first place by themselves in the South Division, after their fourths straight win overall. On Friday, they send Victor Gonzalez (1-0) to the mound against San Jose's DJ Myers (0-0), with first pitch set for 7:05pm.
Friday is Walker Buehler Bobblehead Giveaway for the first 1,500 fans in attendance, thanks to San Manuel Casino. Gates open at 6:05pm, but get to the ballpark early if you want a bobblehead. Tickets are available by calling (909) 481-5000 or online at rcquakes.com. We hope to see you at LoanMart Field…Go Quakes!
