JetHawks find the 13th to be unkindly

Rancho Cucamonga's Rick Guttormson improved to a Cal-League best 13-5 with a win over Lancaster.

But no one could have expected everything to happen in the same inning.

Rancho Cucamonga scored five runs in the top of the first inning and Lancaster manager Darrin Garner was ejected in the bottom half as the Quakes knocked off the JetHawks 6-4 in front of 2,617 fans Friday night at The Hangar.

Lancaster starter Greg Wooten (7-4) immediately tested the supernatural powers and lost.

After Graham Koonce's one-out RBI single to right scored Andy Wilson (single) with the first run of the game, Clay Snellgrove followed one batter later with an RBI single to left as Rancho Cucamonga (24-24, 66-52) took a 2-0 lead.

Left fielder Scott Seal then followed, hitting Wooten's 2-1 pitch onto the 14 Freeway embankment in right field for a quick 5-0 advantage.

After that inning, Wooten settled down and finished the night, allowing six runs on 10 hits in six innings of work.

"Two words. . . character-builder," Lancaster pitching coach Greg Harris said. "He didn't have his best stuff in the first inning and he could have blown up, but he didn't, settled down and kept us in the game."

Quakes starter Rick Guttormson (13-5), who improved his record against Lancaster to 3-2, didn't fare much better in the bottom half.

But it was Garner who didn't stick around long. After Jermaine Clark led off the game with a walk and a stolen base, Harvey Hargrove attempted a bunt on a 1-1 pitch and seemed to pull the bat back as he ran through the box.

An appeal to second base umpire Ray Villeneuve revealed that Hargrove had gone around. Garner walked out toward Villeneuve, who didn't waste any time in giving Garner the boot.

"He told me not to go out there," Garner said. "But I just didn't like the way he said it. He treated me like I was a little boy or his kid or something. That made me angry.

"But I was wrong. I know you can't argue balls and strikes."

The incident seemed to spark Lancaster as Hargrove lined Guttormson's 1-2 pitch to right, scoring Clark.

Patrick Williams followed with a single to left and, after Greg Connors flew out deep to center, Matt Sachse ripped an RBI single to right to make it 5-2 after the first inning.

From there, Guttormson showed why he is the winningest pitcher in the Cal League.

Despite allowing single runs in the third and seventh innings, the right-hander set down the side in order in the second, fifth and sixth innings. Guttormson finished the night with four runs - all earned - on eight hits and four strikeouts in seven innings.

The JetHawks (19-29, 42-76) threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, putting runners at second and third with two outs. But Quakes reliever Tom Szymborski induced Rafael Lopez to ground out to third.

Left-hander Kevin Walker tossed a perfect ninth to earn his fourth save.

After Wooten left the game in the sixth, relievers Allan Simpson and Justin Kaye retired the final nine batters in order. Simpson threw two innings and struck out three, while Kaye registered one strikeout.

"Allen threw two marvelous innings," Harris said. "Kaye wasn't bad either, he had everything working well for him."