MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Hank Conger didn’t waste any time putting Rancho on the board against the 66ers as he gave the Quakes a 1-0 first inning lead off of Victor Garate (3-0) with a RBI groundout that scored Peter Bourjos.

Alexander Torres cruised through four innings yielding a single hit, but the fifth inning was a different story as Inland Empire touched up Torres for three runs on four hits, the big hit, a three-run homer by Tommy Giles that gave the 66ers a 3-1 lead. For Giles, he is now tied for third in the California League with 22 homers on the season.

Rancho didn’t trail for long as they regained the lead 4-3 on a solo homer by Peter Bourjos and a two-run home run by Hank Conger in the bottom of the fifth inning.

With Torres out of the game and a 4-3 Quakes lead, Inland Empire took the lead back 5-4 off of reliever Bryan Rembisz. Scott Van Slyke brought home the first 66ers run of the inning with a RBI double, followed by a run scoring single from Esteban Lopez.

The Quakes brought in closer David Herndon to keep Rancho within a run, but the 66ers were scratched across an insurance run on a RBI double by Tommy Giles to push Inland Empire’s lead to 6-4. Giles finished the night 2-for-5 with a homer, double and four RBIs.

Rancho threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning against Inland Empire’s closer Paul Koss, but were unable to get the clutch hit with runners on second and third. Jordan Pratt and Koss combined to pitch four scoreless innings to close out the win for starter Victor Garate.

Michael Anton (6-5, 5.63 ERA) takes the mound for the Quakes in game two of the series against Inland Empire’s Tim Sexton (5-12, 6.07 ERA) Sunday evening at the Epicenter with first pitch set for 5:05.

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