The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes came up on the short end of a hard-fought 11-8 loss to the Lancaster JetHawks (Rockies) in front of a sold out LoanMart Field on Monday night, but the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate most certainly had their chances to yank victory from the jaws of defeat in the near four-hour long contest.

“I think the pace of the game kind of slowed down a little bit, from both sides,” Quakes manager Drew Saylor said, after the 3-hour 56-minute game. “I don’t think it’s necessarily just our pitching staff or whatnot, I think the game just grinded to a halt a little bit there. Some balls just kind of found some holes but really, the biggest answer, we just had too many guys on base, we had a lot of traffic.

“Any time that you let leadoff walks and those guys get on base, it’s just kind of tough to be able to overcome that. The percentages, whatever they are, we know it’s not in our favor,” Saylor added. “So really, that’s what really kind of hurt us a little bit as the game continued to progress.”

Three of those walks, of which there were eight on the night, were issued by Quakes hard-throwing right-hander Yadier Alvarez, who was making his 10th start of the season. Two of them scored. And even though Alvarez’s replacement, right-hander Parker Curry, did not allow a walk in his 1.1 innings of work, his replacement, Quakes left-hander Michael Boyle did – three of them, in fact – of which two scored.

On the other side of the coin, the Rancho squad had runners on base in all but the second and third innings. Unfortunately, they stranded 13 of them and were 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position. That being said, Quakes center fielder DJ Peters continued his torrid hitting, going 3-for-4 on the night (with a walk) and came within a home run of hitting for the cycle. Peters finished the night having driven in two of the Quakes eight runs, this following his three-home-run game the day before.

Glendora’s DJ Peters continues to swing a hot bat for the Quakes. He followed his three-home-run game on Sunday with a 3-for-4 night on Monday and came a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Also of note was a first-inning three-run home run by Quakes first baseman Luke Raley, his ninth of the season, which was followed by a two-run shot off the bat of by designated hitter Will Smith, his 11th, following Peters’ walk. But this is where that grinding-to-a-halt thing kicked in. The Quakes would not collect their next hit until Peters led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double, while the JetHawks rallied for six runs to take a lead that they would not relinquish in their eventual 11-8 win.

First inning home runs by Luke Raley and Will Smith gave the Quakes an early 5-0 lead. Unfortunately, they would soon relinquish that lead. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As they so often do, the Quakes made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth when Quakes third baseman Brandon Montgomery hit a one-out triple to right field. This was followed by a walk of Quakes second baseman Drew Jackson by JetHawks right-hander J. D. Hammer to bring the tying run to the plate, still with only one out. But Hammer lived up to his name when he dropped it on Quakes right fielder Yusniel Diaz and Raley to end the game by striking out the side.

With the loss the Quakes are now 7-5 in the second half but remain tied for first place in the Cal League South Division with the Inland Empire 66ers (Angels), who also lost on Monday night.

The Rancho boys begin a brutal seven-game road trip starting tonight with three games against the San Jose Giants in San Jose. They then immediately return to southern California for a four-game set against the 66ers at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino before a well-deserved day off on July 19.