The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Lancaster Jethawks squared off Monday night for the first of a four-game set with Rancho holding a slim one-game lead in the South division. The Quakes got a big night at the plate from 1B Nick Yarnall and won by score of 7-3 at The Hangar in Lancaster to stretch their lead to two games.
Yarnall smacked an RBI triple in the second inning and followed with a two-run homer in the fourth to help Rancho Cucamonga to a 4-0 lead. RHP Gerardo Carrillo (2-2) went six strong innings allowing three runs on six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Lefty Wes Helsabeck earned his second save with three shutout innings out of the bullpen, allowing just two hits with no walks while striking out five.
2B Carlos Herrera collected three hits for the Jethawks and DH Luis Castro belted his fifth homer of the season in the loss.
The series continues tonight at The Hangar with Leo Crawford (0-2) going for the Quakes and Ryan Rolison (2-0) starting for Lancaster.
THE OTHER FIRST PLACE BATTLE
In the North division, Visalia has a commanding lead and the Rawhide added to it with a 3-1 won over second-place Modesto Monday night. The win stretched Visalia’s lead to nine games and improved its home record to a ridiculous 15-3. Jeff Bain struck out eight over six innings, allowing just a run on six hits to improve to 4-1 on the season.
