Mears can't handle Cal hitters

Newcomer Chris Mears lost his second game in as many starts since arriving from Wisconsin as Lancaster fell to Rancho Cucamonga, 9-6.

Class A baseball league primarily known as a hitter's paradise. Pitchers beware.

If Lancaster JetHawks starting pitcher Chris Mears was unaware of what type of league he was headed to after being sent to Lancaster from Wisconsin, he now probably can recite that definition.

Mears, who was making his second start for the JetHawks since arriving June 23, was roughed up for seven runs - six earned - on 10 hits in six innings of work as the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes defeated Lancaster 9-6 in front of 2,802 fans Friday night at The Hangar.

It was the second consecutive bad outing for Mears, who lasted only four innings last Sunday at Visalia, allowing eight earned runs on eight hits.

"I saw better stuff from him this time than when he pitched in Visalia," JetHawks pitching coach Greg Harris said. "But the result was the same.

"He's getting pitches up and getting behind in the count, and you just can't do that, especially in a ballpark where the wind is blowing out at 30 mph."

As tough as it was for Mears (0-2), Lancaster (3-6) tried to bail him out in the bottom of the eighth inning.

With Rancho Cucamonga (7-2) leading 7-6, the JetHawks loaded the bases with one out. But Greg Connors popped out to second and Shawn McCorkle struck out swinging to end the inning and Lancaster's hopes of coming back.

"It was disappointing that we didn't get the fly ball we needed to tie the game," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said. "But all in all, we battled hard out there and are starting to swing the bats a lot better."

The Quakes tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth on Andy Wilson's run-scoring triple. Wilson came home on the play when Lancaster center fielder Harvey Hargrove bobbled the ball.

Mears wasn't the only pitcher Friday night that got roughed up.

Rancho Cucamonga starter Brian Lawrence, who was coming off a complete-game shutout at Lake Elsinore on Sunday, was tagged for five runs - four earned - on 11 hits in 5 innings.

Lawrence (11-3), however, was the beneficiary of Wilson's two-run single in the top of the sixth inning that gave the Quakes a 7-5 lead, proving to be the game-winning hit.

For Lawrence, it was his fifth consecutive victory in as many outings.

Lancaster first baseman Peanut Williams' three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch to right in the bottom of the fifth tied the game 5-5, and basically knocked Lawrence out of the contest.

"(Williams) is a good hitter and that's the type of night we can expect from him," Garner said. "With the wind in this ballpark, all he has to do is get a good swing on it."

Lancaster got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Lawrence got into hot water when Hargrove and Jermaine Clark registered back-to-back singles to start the inning. Jason Regan's RBI grounder to first scored Hargrove to make it 1-0.

But the lead didn't last long as Scott Seal deposited Mears' first pitch of the second inning over the 385-foot sign in right field to tie the game 1-1.

Lawrence got into more trouble in the bottom half of the second, but worked out of a two-on, twoout jam when Alexander Fernandez overran third base on Hargrove's infield single.

Rancho Cucamonga second baseman Clay Snellgrove fielded the ball over the second-base bag and fired to third baseman Alex Pelaez, who applied the tag to end the threat.