After a miserable showing from the Quakes offense in game-1 of the Cal League South Division Finals, the Storm (Padres) took a 1-0 series lead with one game left to play in Lake Elsinore before the series moved to Rancho Cucamonga. 

Game-2 looked like it had the right combination of things to allow the Quakes to tie the series, but the game got ugly in the seventh as the Storm faced Rancho’s bullpen.

John Rooney got the start for the Quakes and with runners on first and second in the first inning, Rooney attempted to pickoff the runner at first but the other base runner got greedy, resulting in a major pickle that ended in a 1-3-4-5-3-6 caught stealing. In the third, he gave up an RBI triple to give the Storm a 1-0 lead.

After 12 scoreless innings through the first two games, the Quakes offense finally showed up to back Rooney. In the top of the fourth, first baseman Dillon Paulson drove in two runs with a double to center to put Rancho up 2-1. In the top of the sixth, pinch-runner Deacon Liput scored on a wild pitch before catcher Tre Todd blasted a three-run shot to right-center field to give the Quakes a commanding 6-1 lead. Rooney’s night was over after five innings. In total, he gave up seven hits, the one run, and two walks while striking out five before handing the ball over to Darien Nunez.

Nunez gave up two singles in the bottom of the inning but kept the Storm off the board. He ran into trouble in the seventh though, giving up an RBI single and a two-RBI triple. Nunez was replaced by Guillermo Zuniga, who was tasked with getting the final two outs of the inning. He was able to but walked back-to-back batters in the eighth to end his night.

Brett de Geus took things from there, essentially looking for a six-out save. de Geus struck out his first batter but gave up back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at six. He got the final two outs he needed and escaped the jam. He pitched the ninth as well, giving up a double and an intentional walk, but did not allow any runs to score, sending the game to extra innings. The Quakes had a quiet top of the tenth as the automatic runner-on-second base rule for extra innings is not used in postseason play.

Max Gamboa took over for de Geus to try and send the game to the 11th inning. Gamboa gave up a leadoff single but struck out the next batter before uncorking a wild pitch to move the runner to second. The runner then stole third before Gamboa issued a walk. The next batter flew out to center to send the game-winning run home. Gamboa was tagged with the loss as the Quakes fell 7-6 and dropped to 0-2 in the series.

Ultimately, the offense the Quakes needed in game-1 was a day late and the pitching they needed in game-2 was a day early. 

The series heads to LoanMart Field, home of the Quakes for the guaranteed game-3 as well as games four and five, if necessary. 

The Storm will send right-hander Caleb Boushley to the hill as their starter while the Quakes will counter with right-hander Andre Jackson. Boushley posted a 5-4 record during the regular season with an ERA of 3.61 in 26 games. Jackson finished the regular season with a 3-1 record over 15 games with a 3.66 ERA.

There is no fluff, hype, or hoopla. It’s win-or-go-home time… period.

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