Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (16-20, 52-50) could not keep pace with a San Jose Giants (20-16, 57-45) that returned to form on Sunday evening at Morongo Field, dropping their series finale 8-4.
In the early stages, the Rancho Cucamonga offense emerged to set the tone, rallying for two runs in the bottom of the first. Hayden Alvarez led off by legging out a double, promptly advancing to third base on a Kevyn Castillo groundout. Kendrey Maduro’s infield single brought Alvarez home, and following an Angel Arredondo walk, John Wimmer laced an RBI base hit of his own, handing the Quakes a multi-run advantage.
San Jose, though, pulled a run back immediately on a Cam Maldonado RBI double in their next turn at bat, setting up their big breakthrough in the top of the fourth. They pushed across six runs on just two hits, turning their deficit into a 7-2 lead in the middle innings.
The Quakes hit the comeback trail in their half of the frame as Alvarez lifted a sacrifice fly to cash in a Victor Rodriguez one-out triple. However, the Giants were quick to respond. Maldonado supplied a solo home run the very next half-inning, restoring San Jose’s edge to five.
Anyelo Marquez produced a double to plate Arredondo from first base in the bottom of the fifth, and the Rancho Cucamonga bullpen stepped up to hold the Giants in check from that point forward. Will Gervase and Alex Martinez both turned in two scoreless innings, giving the Quakes a platform to continue their charge back into contention.
However, San Jose’s relievers were equal to the task. Three different arms matched Rancho Cucamonga's duo by twirling four shutout frames of their own, carrying the Giants to the finish line in a comfortable victory.
The Quakes head to San Manuel Stadium on Tuesday at 6:35 PM to open a pivotal six-game series against the Inland Empire 66ers. Play resumes at Morongo Field on August 11th at 6:30 PM as the Ontario Tower Buzzers head to town for Healthy RC Recycle Tuesday and Two Dollar Tuesday.