The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes took an early 2-0 lead against Lancaster JetHawks' starter Tyson Perez, but were unable to hold it against the JetHawks' potent offense, ultimately falling by the score of 9-4 and being swept at home by the Houston Astros' affiliate.
Behind Wednesday's starting pitcher Lindsey Caughel, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes contained the Lancaster JetHawks offense for the first five innings of play, as the two teams played to a 3-3 draw. Caughel began to lose effectiveness and the game was put into the hands of the Quakes' bullpen, who couldn't find an answer for Lancaster's offense.
Once Daniel Coulombe came in to relieve Caughel, the JetHawks offense exploded in the two subsequent innings, scoring six runs against Coulombe. One of the runs came off the bat of Lancaster's first baseman Telvin Nash, who absolutely unloaded on an offering for a home run that must have been around 480 feet or so (more on that below).
Before the Quakes could catch their breath, they were down 9-3 in the bottom of the ninth. The Quakes were able to knock in one run before it was all said and done, but couldn't cut into Lancaster's lead any further than that.
Notes:
- Delino DeShields, 2B, Astros: The 5'9'' DeShields was the prospect scouts came to see on Wednesday night as he was the top prospect on the field on Wednesday. DeShields went 2-for-6 at the plate. While he didn't hit any ball with great authority on the night, he showed an ability to get the bat through the zone and and an approach at the plate. He certainly didn't get cheated or fooled at the plate from what I saw; if anything, he almost seemed too passive.
- Telvin Nash, 1B, Astros: Nash showed the good and the bad on Wednesday. Starting with the good, Nash displayed his plus-plus power, hitting a pair of homers during the game, including the aforementioned 480 foot blast that was absolutely jaw-dropping. (Note: The ball hit a pole, so we will never know, but that's the estimate).
- Ryan Mount, 3B, Dodgers: I didn't know much about Mount heading to the stadium on Wednesday, but he was the one player that stood out the most, at least at the plate. During batting practice, Mount put on a show, going deep towards right-center frequently. It translated to the game, too, smoking a double to left-center, a hard hit ball up the middle and another liner that a JetHawks pitcher somehow snared. Defensively, Mount looked uncomfortable and quite frankly not good at the hot corner. However, the 26-year-old is not a prospect.
- Lindsey Caughel, RHP, Dodgers: The Dodgers took Caughel in the 23rd round of the 2012 draft and is playing in the CAL for the first time. The right-handed pitcher was throwing in the 88-90 range, but mostly sitting 89. He did a touch a few 91s, but nothing close to the strike zone. Despite the results, he was getting hit quite hard and lost a few ticks off of his fastball velocity in the top of the fifth inning.
- Casio Grider, 2B, Dodgers: It was the bottom of the sixth inning when Grider hit a ball towards second base. It seemed like a routine ball, but it was a bit more than that. The 25-year-old turned on the jets and showed plus-plus speed as a right-handed hitter, legging out a home-to-first time of 4.01 seconds.