The series marks the first home six-game sweep of the Quakes since its reclassification to Low-A in 2021. Their losing streak stands at seven, the team’s longest since May 2024.
A series expected to be a pitching duel, seeing as it contained the only two squads with a team ERA under 4 heading in, wound up being anything but. With an average of just under 12 combined runs in each contest and no Quakes starter going more than 5 innings, it quickly became clear the series would be won or lost in the batter's box.
Aidan Foeller, a 6’3” 11th round pick by the Dodgers in 2024, opened the series for the Quakes. Foeller leads the California League in strikeouts, and added eight more to his name in game one.
It was a strong first inning for Fueller, who made quick work of the first two batters he saw before a middle-middle fastball was sent over the fence to give the Giants an early lead.
The second inning wouldn’t prove any more effective for the big righty, who, after surrendering a single and a hit batsman, would once again have a knee-high fastball punished over the wall in right-center field to put Rancho down four.
Foeller would be able to hold his own afterwards, ending his outing by getting out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth.
Second-year middle infielder Elijah Hainline chipped away at the San Jose lead, hitting a towering fly ball into the trees beyond left field to put the Quakes on the board.
The run would immediately be matched by the Giants in the top of the sixth, the last run by either team until an RBI single by catcher Gio Cueto would provide a trivial second run in the bottom of the ninth, but that would be all she wrote as Rancho dropped game one 5-2.
Game two, a bullpen game for Rancho, started out much like the first, with the Giants striking first in the top half of the first frame. After surrendering a leadoff single, an errant pickoff attempt by starter Jakob Wright allowed the runner to advance to second before a single knocked him in.
The Giants would plate another in the top of the fourth, while the Quakes went hitless until the bottom of the inning.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Quakes had just two hits and no sniff of offensive momentum. After a man reached on an error and another via a single, a rope to the center field wall off of the bat of Samuel Muñoz would result in a triple and two runs scoring, evening the score.
The following inning, Hainline would come through again, delivering a hard single up the middle, scoring Mairo Martinus from second and giving Rancho the lead.
Rancho would quickly find themselves in trouble in the top of the eighth however, as the Giants loaded the bases with nobody out. Able to draw a soft ground ball up the middle, the Quakes turned two, surrendering the tying run. A fly ball by the next man up would limit the damage, keeping it tied going into the bottom of the eighth.
Fast forward to top nine, the Quakes would once again find themselves in a jam, again with the bases loaded and nobody out. Reliever Ryan Brown gave the fans hope, striking out the next two Giants on nine pitches to put Rancho one out away from getting out of the jam. A walk on five pitches however would put the standing Quakes faithful back in their seats and prove the end of the line for Brown. After the pitching change, a two run double put the lead at three and a two run single would break the game open, plating five total two-out runs.
Prior to game three, Hainline, who went 4-8 in the first two contests, emphasized the team aspect of the sport, saying that the squad needed to be firing on all cylinders, not just individuals.
“I mean, obviously it’s a team game,” Hainline said. “You’re just kind of trying to help out as best you can, hoping that the team gets locked in one way or the other,” Hainline said.
Hainline, who has considerable jumps in almost every major stat, attributed the improvements to getting his swing right in the offseason and just overall playing looser.
“It’s just getting comfortable playing at this level… and just having fun with it, honestly,” Hainline said.
Game three of the series was… clean? That’s right, it was scoreless after one, the first and only time this would be true across the six games. The Giants did load the bases, but pitcher Logan Tabeling, in just his third start of the season, was able to pitch around it.
After his 25 pitch first inning, Tabeling was able to put them down in order in the second to keep his pitch count around 40. Come the third however, following a leadoff single, a nine-pitch battle would end in a home run, putting the Quakes down once again.
Following a pair of walks to open the bottom of the fourth, a single by first baseman Roger Lasso would get one back for the Quakes, although the potential tying run was thrown out at third in the process.
After San Jose tacked on another run in the sixth, reigning California League Hitter of the Month Eduardo Quintero, a top ten prospect in the Dodgers’ system, hit a home run to cut the deficit back to one, his first real mark on the series.
A home run for San Jose in the top of the seventh would once again stretch the lead to two, a triple off the bat of Eduardo Guerrero, his third of the year, would once again make it a one run game. A ground ball by Elkins would bring Guerrero home, tying the game, and put him at second on a fielding error, though nothing would come of it.
That would be the last run scored in the nine innings, the game needing extras to determine a winner.
A single on the third pitch of the tenth would re-nab the lead for San Jose, scoring the free runner on second. A single moved him to second, before a combination of a wild pitch and throwing error by the third baseman Martinus allowed that all important insurance run to advance 180 feet and score.
The Quakes would go down in order in the bottom half of the inning, letting the game slip away 6-4.
Game four opened with something absent from the previous three contests: early Quakes momentum. A sentiment of “This one feels different,” could be felt throughout the stadium. After a ten pitch first inning from reigning California League Pitcher of the Month Christian Zazueta, a string of hits and solid situational hitting put Rancho Cucamonga up 2-0, their first first inning runs and first time striking first in the series to that point.
As quickly as hope filled the seats of LoanMart Field, it was sucked right out when San Jose stepped up to the plate in the top of the second inning.
After the leadoff man doubled his way on, a routine fly ball to left fielder Jaron Elkins would fall, putting Zazueta under pressure right away. A subsequent walk would load the bases and a sac fly would halve the Quakes’ lead. A fly ball to center fielder Mairo Martinus too would be misplayed, allowing a pair of runs to cross the plate and give San Jose the lead. A stroke to left in the bottom of the second off the bat of Eduardo Quintero would even things back up at 3, his league leading 11th and second in as many days. Zazueta would find himself stuck in traffic once again in the top half of the third, in a first and second, nobody out situation.
Able to draw a fly ball to Elkins in left, he would once again drop it, (deja vu, yet?) putting the Giants right back in front. Just five pitches later, a fly ball would once again be hit to shallow left, falling between three Quakes. Elkins came up firing, but the throw was errant, allowing the run to score. The next man up, a towering pop fly would be hit to the second baseman Hainline, and the third time in as many batters, the pop fly would fall.
The game would hold firm until the bottom of the fourth, when a sharp single off the bat of Elkins would allow Hainline to score from second, who himself bunted his way on and advanced to second on a wild throw to first.
The top of the fifth would yield more of the same brutal defense for Rancho Cucamonga, as following a leadoff walk, a pop fly straight up would be dropped by catcher Victor Rodriguez to put runners on first and second with one man out. A single would juice ‘em, and a subsequent fielder's choice would score one but keep the bases loaded. A triple down the line emptied the bases; all four runs in the inning to break the game open unearned.
The Quakes would get back a pair in the bottom of the eighth, but it would prove futile as San Jose held on to take game four 10-6.
Game five proved another strong top half of the first as the GIants were retired in order. In the Quakes half however, it was a tale of missed opportunity. After a leadoff double by Elkins, probably the fastest on the team, he got caught leaning and was picked off between second and third. Eduardo Quintero then walked, before he himself was thrown out attempting to steal second.
After another clean top half of the second however, the Quakes offense got its chance and didn’t waste it. With the bases loaded and one out, Eduardo Guerrero poked one through the right hand side, scoring two and setting up a first and third situation. A subsequent double steal was put on by Rancho Cucamonga, getting Guerrero thrown out at second but allowing the run to score from third.
Starter Sterling Patick followed that up with a one, two, three third, keeping the Giants scoreless through three for the first time in the series.
However, one run innings over innings four through seven, including two RBI triples, would send the game to the bottom of the eighth with the Quakes down 4-3. A home run towards the scoreboard off the bat of first baseman Jose Meza would even the score once again.
And once again, for the second time in three games, there would need to be extra innings in Rancho Cucamonga.
And once again once again, the Quakes would find themselves in a bases loaded jam. Yet another bases loaded walk would surrender the lead for Rancho, before a brutal chopper over the head of the shortstop Hainline, who was playing on the infield grass, scored a pair to bring the lead to three. A three-run home run would put the nail in the coffin for the Quakes, capping off a six-run tenth. They’d go down in order, losing 10-4.
Game six, as was the trend, saw the Giants strike first in the first via a two-run home run. A pair of wild pitches in the second and third innings put the Quakes down four, and a close play at the plate put a fifth across for San Jose.
Things seemed bleak for Rancho Cucamonga once again, the bats nowhere to be found as the score read 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh.
A pair of walks and a single would see the bases juiced with two outs for Rancho Cucamonga, and with it a sliver of hope.
A four pitch walk would make it a four run game, and a single up the middle a two run game with runners on first and second.
Muñoz and Meza, the runners, initiated a double steal, The throw down to third was way wide and rolled down the third base line, allowing both runners to come around and even the score at 6, an improbable five-run seventh, all with two outs.
Unfortunately for Rancho, the baseball Gods giveth and take, and the lead was given right back in the top half of the eighth on a sac fly.
The Quakes had a man on second in the eighth, failing to plate him. A one, two, three ninth sealed the 7-6 loss and the sweep, their worst home stretch since realignment.
The Quakes currently find themselves with a four game lead in the South division and, after starting the series atop the standings, in third place, three games back in California League play.
Rancho Cucamonga will have a day off on Monday, June 9 before six-game sets in San Bernardino at the 66ers and at home hosting the Stockton Ports to close out the first half.