For the second series in a row, the Quakes have swept their opposition, this time with two big wins thanks to an unstable Inland Empire 66ers (Angels) bullpen. 

Game-1 

Dodgers outfielder A.J. Pollock began a rehab assignment with the Quakes to recover from elbow surgery. In the second inning, first baseman Marcus Chiu hit a solo home run to get the Quakes on the board. In the fourth, left fielder Starling Heredia added a two run homer to put Rancho up 3-0.

For starter Leo Crawford, that’s all he would need, as he didn’t give up a run in his 5.2 innings of work. He gave up seven hits but struck out a season-high eight batters. Max Gamboa took over with an out left in the sixth and worked around two walks and a wild pitch to keep the 66ers off the board in the seventh.

Sven Schueller took the eighth and hit back-to-back batters but got out of the jam. He kept it going through the ninth and earned the save. The 3-0 win gave Crawford his third win of the season. Pollock went 0-3 with a ground out and two strikeouts. 

Game-2

Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager joined Pollock on rehab assignment to nurse a hamstring injury back to health. In his first at bat, he drove in a run with a single to put the Quakes up 1-0. In the second, catcher Connor Wong led things off with a triple and was driven in by second baseman Deacon Liput. Left fielder Niko Hulsizer tacked on two more with a two-run homer to left.

In the fourth, right fielder Jeren Kendall hit his own two-run home run to give Rancho a 6-0 lead. Quakes starter Austin Hamilton gave up his first hit of the game which, ironically, may have been an out had it not been for a 7.1 earthquake that rocked San Manuel Stadium and most of California and Nevada. In the fifth, the 66ers scored their lone run of the game against Hamilton on a single to Pollock in center.

Austin Drury took over for Hamilton in the sixth and kept things running smoothly, giving up one hit over two innings. Bryan Warzek replaced Drury in the eighth and also threw a scoreless inning.

The Quakes offense really went off the Richter Scale in the ninth, scoring 10 runs with 15 batters coming to the plate in the inning. They actually went through their entire line up once without the 66ers recording an out. With the bases loaded, right fielder Donovan Casey ripped a two-run single to left. Quakes new third baseman Miguel Vargas then drove in two more with a double to left. Wong added another two with a single to center and Liput drove in another putting Rancho up 13-1. The first out of the inning was finally recorded on a sac fly by Hulsizer, but the fun didn’t stop there. 

To put the cherry on the top of the cake, Heredia smashed a two-run shot to left center, giving the Quakes a dominant 16-1 lead. Once the Quakes quake-driven outburst was over, Wes Helsabeck took to the hill for Warzek and had a 1-2-3 inning to clinch the win for Rancho and Hamilton. Seager ended up going 2-2 with an RBI and Pollock went 0-3 with a strikeout and two fly outs. 

Game-3

Both Seager and Pollock received the night off and will likely resume their assignments on the upcoming trip to Lake Elsinore. Although the two Dodgers didn’t play, Rancho catcher Stevie Berman made his first start back from the injured list which he had been on since the middle of May. For the first time in the series, the 66ers got on the board first with a solo home run off of Quake starter Michael Grove. However, Hulsizer evened things up with an RBI double to right.

Grove’s night ended after he allowed back-to-back runners to reach in the third. Over 2.1 innings, he gave up one run on three hits before giving way to Wills Montgomerie. Montgomerie’s outing was heavily backed by the Quakes offense, starting in the fifth inning. Casey hit a grand slam to left center that gave Rancho a 5-1 lead. Following three straight walks, Liput drove in a run on a force out. With Liput’s out being just the second of the inning, Berman was able to bat for the second time in the inning, making it two straight games that the Quakes order batted around in an inning.

In the sixth, Casey hit his second homer of the night, a two-run shot that gave the Quakes an 8-1 lead. Wong added on to the total in the seventh with a solo home run and another run scored on a wild pitch. In the eighth, Wong tripled in two runs and Hulsizer drove in the 13th run of the game with a sac fly. 

The 66ers opted to switch to a position player as a pitcher for the ninth. On the second pitch of the inning, Berman smashed a meatball pitch to left to make it a 14-1 game. Montgomerie gave up his only run of the night in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single but was otherwise well in control throughout the game. In relief of Grove, he went 6.2 innings and gave up the one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out seven, earning him his seventh win of the year. 

The Quakes look to continue their winning ways as they take on the Lake Elsinore Storm in a three-game series before returning home to LoanMart Field. As noted above, Seager and Pollock are expected to continue their respective rehab assignment with Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday afternoon and possibly Monday evening.

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