Any time you hit three home runs in a professional baseball game it is a major accomplishment. This is exactly what Rancho Cucamonga Quakes center fielder DJ Peters did on Sunday afternoon at LoanMart Field, where the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate routed the Lancaster JetHawks (Rockies) 12-2.

“This was the first three-home-run game of my professional career, and to do it against a really good team like the JetHawks is a blessing,” Peters said. “When you’re facing a good team like the JetHawks you know you’re not going to get many good pitches to hit. When those pitches come, you don’t want to miss them because there won’t be many of them.”

Peters did not miss them.

He hit a solo home run to left-center field to lead off the bottom of the second inning, a two-run blast to left in the fifth inning, and another solo shot to left in the seventh inning.

Quakes center fielder DJ Peters was definitely in the zone on Sunday afternoon. It was the first three-home-run game of his two-year professional career. (Photo credit – Steve Saenz)

With his three home runs on Sunday afternoon Peters now has 16 on the season to take over the lead in the highly competitive California League, one ahead of teammate Ibandel Isabel. Peters also leads the Cal League in total bases (147), is 11th in on-base percentage (.378), second in slugging percentage (.523) and second in OPS (.902).

Obviously, and unless all three of his home runs were grand slams – which they were not – Peters had help putting runs on the board for the Quakes on Sunday. A good chunk of that help came from Quakes left fielder Johan Mieses, who only hit two home runs on the day, one of which was a grand slam. Between the two of them, Peters and Mieses accounted for nine of the Quakes 12 runs, with the other three credited to Quakes designated hitter Luke Raley, who was 2-for-5 on the day with a two run double and an RBI single.

“We played great as a team today,” said the 21-year-old Glendora, California native and lifelong Dodger fan. “I’m glad we were able to take game-3 against a very good JetHawks team. I’m looking forward to game-4 tomorrow night.”

Of course, it takes more than just good hitting to win a game by a score of 12-2, it also takes good pitching, which the Rancho squad received from rehabbing Dodgers left-hander Scott Kazmir (3.0 IP / 1 H / 1 R / 2 BB / 1 K), right-hander and winning pitcher Adam Bray (5.0 IP / 1 H / 1 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 3 K), and right-hander Chris Powell, who pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

With the win the Quakes are now 7-4 in the second half, which has them tied for first place with the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels).

The Quakes square off with the JetHawks again on Monday evening for the final game of the wraparound four-game weekend series, of which Lancaster took the first two games. Although the Quakes have not yet announced who their starter will be for the series finale, the JetHawks will send right-hander Jesus Tinoco (6-1, 4.01) to the mound. First pitch is set for 7:05 pm PT.