Rancho Gets Blanked on Friday

Rancho Cucamonga, CA – The Quakes dropped a heart-breaker on Friday night in front of more than 3,500 fans at LoanMart Field, as the Lake Elsinore Storm took game four of the series with a 1-0 win.

A first-inning run for the Storm was all of the scoring on Friday night, as Lake Elsinore has won three of the first four games, while the Quakes have now lost six of their last seven overall.

Rancho Cam Day (4-5) was terrific on Friday, allowing just one run over six innings. He walked the first hitter he faced to open the game though, as Kai Roberts reached and then scored two batters later on an RBI single from Brendan Durfee, making it 1-0.

Five Storm pitchers combined on the two-hit shutout, as Padres’ rehabbing left Wandy Peralta tossed a scoreless first, before turning it over to Ian Koenig. Koenig (2-3) retired the first ten batters he faced before leaving the game with one out in the fifth due to an injury.

Rancho finally collected their first base-runner in the sixth, as Oswaldo Osorio opened the inning with a hit off Miguel Valdez, who loaded the bases with two outs, but got out of it.

The Quakes put two men on against Zac Addkison in the seventh, but came up empty again.

Storm closer Xavier Ruiz worked a 1-2-3 eighth before walking a pair of hitters in the ninth. With two outs, Osorio struck out with runners at the corners to end the game, giving Ruiz his team-leading sixth save of the year.

On Saturday, the Quakes (29-23, 59-57) will send Christian Zazueta (1-4) to the hill, as he’ll take on Miguel Mendez (2-4) in game five.

Saturday is California Earthquake Authority Post-Game Fireworks Night and the Quakes will wear special jerseys which will be auctioned off throughout the night. Game time is 6:30pm. Tickets are available at rcquakes.com. Go Quakes!