Visalia, Calif. – The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (20-31, 56-61) could not contain a Visalia Rawhide (21-30, 49-68) lineup that caught fire just past the midway point of their Thursday night contest at Valley Strong Ballpark, resulting in a 5-3 loss.
The Quakes wasted no time getting their bats going and broke into the run column right away. Gabriel Davalillo lifted a sacrifice fly in the top of the first to open the scoring, and two innings later, Jeffery Heard added on. His RBI single doubled Rancho Cucamonga’s early advantage, boosting them ahead 2-0.
Visalia responded in the bottom of the fourth, pulling a run back on an Adriel Radney single. However, the Quakes neutralized it right away. Joswa Lugo led off the top of the fifth by launching a solo home run, his first at the Single-A level, restoring their lead at two.
The Rawhide locked in at the plate in their half of the frame, turning the game on its head. They quickly struck for four runs on five hits, turning a two-run deficit into a two-run edge and moving in front 5-3.
Following the offensive outburst, Rancho Cucamonga’s bullpen stepped up and cooled the Rawhide down. Brayan Vergara entered in the bottom of the sixth and promptly delivered two scoreless innings. Alton Davis came in one frame later and stranded two Visalia base runners, keeping the Quakes in the game.
Nevertheless, the Rawhide did the same to hold the Quakes off, carrying them to the finish line. Four different relievers combined to rattle off four consecutive spotless frames and hammer down a two-run victory.
The Quakes look to get back on track against the Rawhide on Friday at 6:35 PM. RHP Mikey Cascino toes the rubber for Rancho Cucamonga opposite RHP Connor Foley for Visalia. Action resumes at Morongo Field on August 25th at 6:30 PM as the Lake Elsinore Storm open a new series on Healthy RC Recycle Tuesday and Two Dollar Tuesday.