San Bernardino, Calif. – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (17-21, 53-51) delivered a series of strong performances on the mound on Wednesday night at San Manuel Stadium, but the Inland Empire 66ers (18-20, 46-58) stayed one step ahead of them the whole way to hand them a 3-1 defeat.
A Grant Jay solo home run opened the scoring and launched Inland Empire into the lead in the bottom of the second, but the Quakes formulated a swift response in their next turn at bat. Jeffery Heard got hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the third and promptly stole second base. A Jaxon Willits ground out moved him up to third, setting up Gavin Grahovac to single him home, leveling the contest at one.
One inning later, the 66ers reclaimed their edge. Nick Becker reached on a catcher’s interference, and Starlin Aguilar walked, placing runners on first and second base. Connor Dykstra grounded out to advance them both 90 feet, and Brayden Corn drove them both in, delivering a two-run single to hand Inland Empire a 3-1 advantage.
From that point forward, Rancho Cucamonga’s pitching staff stepped up and shut the 66ers down. Trey Gregory-Alford delivered a spotless fifth inning, and the bullpen picked up the slack from there. Angelo Smith tossed two scoreless frames, and Jakob Guardado contributed a perfect eighth, keeping the Quakes in contention.
However, Inland Empire’s arms were just as effective. Starter Dylan Wilson closed out his night by throwing a shutout fifth before Scott Rouse carried the 66ers the rest of the way. He kept the Quakes off the board, tossing four scoreless relief outings to finish off the win.
The Quakes look to reclaim the series lead over the 66ers on Thursday at 6:35 PM. LHP Derek Clark gets the ball for Rancho Cucamonga opposite LHP Mason Peters for Inland Empire. Action resumes at Morongo Field on August 11th at 6:30 PM as a new series begins against the Ontario Tower Buzzers on Healthy RC Recycle Tuesday and Two Dollar Tuesday.