The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes built an insurmountable lead with the help of a five-run fifth inning and went on to drop the Inland Empire 66ers by a score of 11-4 on Sunday at LoanMart Field. In earning a split of the six-game series with IE, the Quakes remained three games back of the Lake Elsinore Storm with three games left to play in the first half. Those three games will be against the Storm starting Tuesday.
Julio Carrion had a bases-loaded double that brought in all three runners in the third inning to give Rancho its first lead at 3-1. The 66ers tied it up in the fourth, but the Quakes came back with two more in the bottom of the fourth and five in the fifth to build a 10-3 lead. They traded single runs the rest of the way to complete the final score.
Gaige Howard and Yunior Garcia each had two hits for the Quakes, who drew 11 walks. Orlando Ortiz-Mayr (W, 1-1) went two scoreless innings in relief, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out two.
Rancho Cucamonga’s showdown with the Storm takes place at The Diamond. Inland Empire has a home series against Visalia starting on Tuesday.
SCOREBOARD
FRESNO – 6
SAN JOSE – 9
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STOCKTON – 5
VISALIA – 2
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LAKE ELSINORE – 7
MODESTO – 3
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