Slumping 'Hawks fall flat in effort to start win streak

Rancho Cucamonga hit four home runs to prevent Lancaster from winning its second straight game

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

And before the Lancaster JetHawks start thinking about winning four or five games in a row to get back in the South Division race, they first must learn to win consecutive games.

The JetHawks, who have not accomplished that feat since the first week of the season, failed in their ninth attempt to win back-toback games since then with Tuesday's 8-4 loss to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes before an announced crowd of 3,463 at The Epicenter.

"We're in a slump," Lancaster catcher Greg Connors said. "That's all you can say. Things just aren't going the way we want."

The Quakes used their first four-homer game of the season to end the JetHawks' modest onegame winning streak and move back to the .500 mark (16-16) once again.

The last time Lancaster won consecutive games was the second, third and fourth games of the season against Bakersfield and Visalia on April 9-12. Since then, the JetHawks (12-21) have dropped 20 of their last 29.

"Things just aren't clicking for us right now," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said. "Before the game, you kind of just had the feeling this might be the one, but it didn't happen."

After Monday's 8-3 win over the Quakes, Garner was optimistic that his team could start a streak with one key component - a solid performance by starting pitcher Derek Bieniasz.

After Bieniasz's last outing, in which he allowed only one run in six innings but still took the loss in a May 6 game against San Jose, Garner had confidence he could get a similar performance Tuesday.

Though Bieniasz (0-5) didn't pitch badly, he didn't give the JetHawks everything Garner felt they needed to start their first winning streak since early April.

The right-hander, who made his fifth start of the season, lasted four innings and allowed five earned runs on seven hits, two walks and a wild pitch. Of Bieniasz's 71 pitches, just over half (38) were for strikes.

"He's a guy that's got to get ahead of hitters," Garner said. "He's more of finesse pitcher, so he's got to trick them. And to do that, he has to throw strikes."

Rancho Cucamonga got to Bieniasz early, as three first-inning doubles produced two runs to tie the game, 2-2.

The Quakes broke that tie in the third, when Kevin Eberwein drew a one-out walk from Bieniasz and scored on Alex Paleasz's single. One batter later, Scott Seal blasted his third home run of the year over the right-center field wall to make the score 5-2.

"That was kind of a letdown," Garner said. "To give up a two-run lead and then go down by three runs, there's only so many times you can come back."

Rancho added a solo home run from Wilbert Nieves in the sixth inning off reliever Donnie Schmidt and two more one-run blasts from Brandon Pernell and Brian McClure off Juan Ramos in the seventh inning to put the game away.

Despite surrendering two runs in the first inning, the Quakes' Rick Guttormson picked up his league-leading fifth victory in six decisions.

Jermaine Clark, Luis Figueroa and Connors wasted little time extending their hitting streaks, as all three picked up first-inning hits.

Clark's one-out single up the middle extended his streak a teamhigh 11 games, before Figueroa doubled to increase his streak to 10. Connors' string also reached double digits with his single that drove in both runners and gave Lancaster a quick 2-0 lead.

Guttormson allowed three earned runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out four.