SUNDAY SCORES

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 7
VISALIA – 5
Box

RC
2B Jorbit Vivas 2-for-5, 2B, HR (11), 3RBI.
RHP Aldry Acosta (W, 3-2) 2IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 3K

VIS
C Ramses Malave, 1-for-4, HR (8)
DH Lyle Lin, 4-for-4
2B S.P. Chen, 1-for-4, HR (5)
The Quakes swept the 6-game series and are now 40-31 which puts them 5 1/2 games out of the last playoff spot.

 

 

STOCKTON – 5
SAN JOSE – 11
Box

SJ
DH Jairo Pomares, 3-for-5, 2 2B, 3RBI
CF Luis Matos, 3-for-4, 1BB
RF Carter Williams, 3-run HR (5)

STK
3B T.J. Schofield-Sam, 2-for-4, 2B, HR (4)
San Jose (46-26) split the six-game series with the Ports and remains two games behind Fresno for the best record in Low-A West

 

 

MODESTO – 14
FRESNO – 9
Box

MOD
DH Alberto Rodriguez, 3-for-5, 3B, HR (5)
1B Robert Perez, 5-for-6, HR (8), 5 RBIs
CF Brett Rodriguez, 2-for-6, 2B, HR (2), 3 RBIs
RHP Matthew Willrodt, W, 1-2, 2IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 2K

FRE
CF Joe Aeilts, 3-for-4, HR (3), 3 RBIs
Modesto (39-33) split with first-place Fresno (48-24) and are seven games behind San Jose (46-26) for the second playoff spot.

 

 

LAKE ELSINORE – 0
INLAND EMPIRE – 5
Box

IE
RHP John Swanda, , W (3-5), 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
LHP Jack Dashwood, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3K
3B Jeremy Arocho, 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 Runs Scored
LF Caleb Scires, 2-for-4, 2B

LE
CF Robert Hassell III, 1-for-4, 2B

Swanda and  Dashwood combine for the shutout, six hits and no walks. The 66ers (38-33) are 7 1/2 games out of the last playoff spot.

GIANTS SHUT DOWN PORTS

The San Jose Giants bounced back from three straight losses behind three home runs from the offense and a dominant combined effort from the pitching staff to beat Stockton 8-1 Saturday night. 2B Jimmy Glowenke and SS Abdiel Layer hit back-to-back homers in the 3rd inning to put the Giants up for good and RHP Prelander Berroa (W, 3-3) allowed just one hit over six innings with no walks and nine strikeouts.

The Giants carried the 3-0 lead to the bottom of the sixth where they tacked on five runs with PH Jairo Pomares blasting a three-run homer, his 10th of the season. RHP Ivan Armstrong and RHP Clay Helvey covered the final three innings with just one run allowed on an RBI single by 3B Joshwan Wright in the seventh inning. The three San Jose pitchers combined for 3H, 0BB and 13 Ks.

Glowenke has found his stroke in July, slashing .346/.446/.615 with all four of his HRs. Pomares extended his hitting streak to six games and has gone 10-for-23 over that stretch with three doubles and two home runs.

San Jose (45-26) picked up a game on the first-place Grizzlies and will look for a series split Stockton on Sunday.

MODESTO – 8
FRESNO -6
Box
RHP Sam Carlson 6IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 7K
RHP Luis Curvelo 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
C Matt Scheffler 2-for-3 with 2 BB
Zac Veen 2-for-4, 1BB, HR (11)

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 11
VISALIA – 4
Box
SS Alex De Jesus 2-for-4, HR (10)
RF Jose Ramos 2-for-6, HR (2), 3 RBIs.

LAKE ELSINORE – 4
INLAND EMPIRE – 9
Box
1B Spencer Brown 2-for-3, 2HR (5), 5 RBIs
SS Jose Guzman 3-for-5, 2 runs scored
LF Elijah Greene 2-for-4, triple
RHP Dakota Donovan 3IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 4K

QUAKES PULL AWAY LATE FOR 4TH STRAIGHT WIN

Rancho Cucamonga 2B Sam McWilliams went 3-for-5 with a double and a 2-run homer to power the Quakes to their fourth straight win in Visalia Friday night. The visitors broke open a tense, low-scoring contest with late-inning offense while RHP Kendall Williams went four strong innings out of the bullpen to hold down the Rawhide for a 9-1 Quakes win.

McWilliams started the scoring in the first inning with a double and two wild pitches that allowed him to come around and score the game’s  first run. 1B Imanol Vargas launched a 2-run shot in the second inning for a 3-0 Rancho Cucamonga lead.

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66ERS WALK OFF IN 12 INNINGS

The Inland Empire 66ers gave up two runs in the top of the 12th inning against Lake Elsinore, then scored three in the bottom half to walk off with an 8-7 win on Thursday night. SS Jose Guzman capped off the rally with an RBI single to give the 66ers the win for the second night in a row, keeping pace with Rancho Cucamonga in the South division.

 

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BUTLER HOMERS TWICE IN PORTS WIN

Stockton OF Lawrence Butler hit a two-run home in the third inning then launched a grand slam in the eighth to drive in all of Stockton’s runs in a 6-2 win over San Jose Wednesday night. The Ports ended a nine-game losing streak as three pitchers held the Giants to just seven hits.

Butler went  2-for-4 with 6 RBIs, belting his 11th and 12 homers of the season. He’s gone 6-for-12 in his last three games.

 

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GRIZZLIES EDGE NUTS FOR 10TH STRAIGHT WIN

The Fresno Grizzlies returned home from an 11-1 road trip and took the opener from Modesto 2-1 with some opportunistic offense and a strong effort from five pitchers. Fresno scored both of its runs on wild pitches and RHP Toney Locey and four relievers made them stand up for the Grizzlies’ 10th straight win.

The high-powered Grizzlies offense only got four hits but they got what they needed with single runs in the fourth and eighth innings. RF Zac Veen led off the fourth with a bunt single and SS Ezequiel Tovar followed with another, which had to be reviewed to be ruled a hit as he avoided the sweep tag on his way to first. The umpires conferred and called Tovar safe as Veen advanced to second and then went to third on a double-play groundout by 1B Grant Lavigne.  Modesto starter RHP Josiah De Los Santos then threw one to that backstop that allowed Veen to score the first run of the game.

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LOW-A WEST HITTERS TURNING UP THE HEAT

Fresno’s Zac Veen was named Low-A West Player of the Week for his scorching week that included getting on base 15 straight times. Veen’s bat has heated up with the weather (.333/.433/.754 in July) and he has company in that area. Lots of eye-popping numbers across the league, not slighting anyone else, but here’s a list of players who put up numbers from last week that would only take a back seat to a tear like Veen was on:

JOSHUA MEARS, Lake Elsinore (6 games at Visalia)
12-for-25
.567 OBP
2 Doubles
3 HRs
13 RBIs
4 BB/5 K

 

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VEEN, GUARATE NAMED PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

San Jose OF Zac Veen and  Lake Elsinore RHP Carlos Guarate have been named Low-A West Player and Pitcher of the week for July 12-18.

ZAC VEEN – The Colorado Rockies’ top prospect hit safely in all five games he played against Stockton last week, going 12-for-18 and reaching base safely in 15 straight plate appearances. Veen hit five home runs over the week and in July he is slashing .333/.433/.754.

 

CARLOS GUARATE – Guarate came out of the bullpen on Wednesday and threw six shutout innings against Visalia. The 20-year old right hander didn’t allow a hit or a walk while striking out 6. Yesterday, Guarate was promoted to High-A Fort Wayne.

GRIZZLIES, GIANTS COMPLETE SWEEPS

The teams with the top two records in Low-A West swept their 6-game sets last week. Fresno (45-21) took all six games in Stockton and have now won nine straight overall. San Jose (43-23) did the same at Modesto and sit two games back of the Grizzlies in the North division. The Grizzlies outscored the Ports 56-16 with two shutouts along the way. The Giants outscored the Nuts 56-17.

With this year’s playoff format pitting the top two teams overall against each other in a championship series, Fresno and San Jose are running away from the rest of the  field. Modesto has the next best record at 36-30 and they sit seven games behind San Jose for the final spot. Rancho Cucamonga and Lake Elsinore both have 34-31 records and are tied for the top spot in the South division but winning the division won’t mean a playoff berth. Their  records put them 8 1/2 games behind the final spot at this point.

SCOREBOARD

VISALIA – 6
LAKE ELSINORE – 3
10 Innings
Box

INLAND EMPIRE – 13
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 5
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FRESNO – 9
STOCKTON – 7
Box

SAN JOSE – 5
MODESTO – 4
Box

GRIZZLIES SWEEP DH, WIN 8 STRAIGHT

FRESNO -16
STOCKTON – 5
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FRESNO – 3
STOCKTON – 2
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SAN JOSE – 5
MODESTO – 4
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INLAND EMPIRE – 4
RANCHO  CUCAMONGA – 10
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VISALIA – 6
LAKE ELSINORE – 11
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