Rancho's Five Homers Send Giants To Fifth Straight Loss

SAN JOSE, CA - The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes hit five solo home runs in a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the San Jose Giants on Monday evening at Municipal Stadium. Back-to-back home runs from Carlos Rincon and Nick Yarnall in the top of the seventh gave the Quakes the lead for good as San Jose (48-67 overall, 14-31 second half) suffered their fifth consecutive loss overall.
Wander Franco (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) smacked a two-run double while Dillon Dobson (2-for-4, RBI) and Brandon Van Horn (2-for-4) added two singles apiece to lead the Giants offensively in the loss.
Rancho Cucamonga jumped out early as Connor Wong connected for a one-out solo home run in the top of the first off of San Jose starter Carlos Sano for a 1-0 lead. The Giants though immediately answered with a three-run bottom of the first. Jacob Heyward singled with one out before a two-out walk to Gio Brusa. Franco then stepped to the plate and belted a fly ball off the fence in straightaway center for a double. The hit scored both Heyward and Brusa giving San Jose a 2-1 lead. Dobson was up next and he grounded a single into left plating Franco to make it 3-1. The Giants, however, would not score again in the contest and the Quakes eventually rallied.
Jared Walker hit a third-inning solo home run to cut the San Jose lead in half at 3-2. After Sano kept Rancho Cucamonga off the board over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, the Quakes used a pair of home runs in the top of the seventh against reliever Peter Lannoo to take back the lead. The first batter Lannoo faced was Rincon, who led off the top of the seventh with a towering home run to left tying the game 3-3. Yarnall then crushed the next pitch over the fence in right center for another home run and a 4-3 Rancho Cucamonga advantage.
The Quakes extended their lead to 5-3 in the top of the eighth when Cristian Santana hit a one-out solo home run to right center off of rehabbing San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland.
After falling behind in the top of the seventh, the Giants managed only one baserunner over the final three innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Van Horn singled with one out to bring the potential tying run to the plate, however pinch-hitter Heath Quinn grounded into a force out before Bryce Johnson struck out looking to end the game.
Connor Strain (1-2) picked-up the win out of the Rancho Cucamonga bullpen after tossing scoreless sixth and seventh innings. Andre Scrubb pitched the bottom of the ninth for his third save of the year.
Lannoo (1-7) suffered the loss for San Jose.
Notes
* The five home runs allowed by San Jose matched a season-high (July 10 at Stockton).
* The Giants fell to 0-4 on their current homestand.
* San Jose out-hit Rancho Cucamonga 7-6. Five of the Quakes' six hits were home runs.
* Rancho Cucamonga leads the California League with 156 home runs this season. The Quakes have hit 31 homers in 16 games against the Giants this season (13-3 record).
* Franco extended his hitting streak to nine games. He ranks second in the California League with 33 doubles.
* Sano pitched six innings with two runs (both earned) and three hits allowed. He walked two and struck out a season-high seven batters over his 91-pitch performance. Sano retired the last six batters he faced, four of which came via the strikeout.
* San Jose suffered their league-leading 21st blown save of the season. The Giants have now lost a league-high 13 games this year when leading after six innings.
* Strickland was added to San Jose's roster on a rehab assignment before the game on Monday. He pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed one run on the solo homer. Strickland also walked one and struck out one.
On Deck
The Giants and Quakes continue their three-game series on Tuesday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Mac Marshall (0-3, 4.29 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Edwin Uceta (0-0, --- ERA). For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.