Capacity crowd watches Quakes rally for win

It was a bizarre game, and in retrospect, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Quakes came back to beat the Mavericks 6-4 before a crowd of 7,010 at the Epicenter before the holiday fireworks show.

Although they had no hits through six innings, the Quakes trailed just 3-2 after scoring single runs in the fourth and fifth on a walk, bunt and an error.

They got two hits in the seventh, but were retired in order. After P.J. Phillips singled, Julio Perez’s single hit Phillips, as Phillips was out on the play. Perez was picked off. The Mavericks added a run in the top of the eighth, before Michael Kohn, making his Quakes debut, came in to retire Joe Dunigan on a foul pop to end the inning.

Kohn (1-0) ended up being the winning pitcher, because the Quakes rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth, on singles by Clay Fuller and Andrew Romine, a botched pickoff attempt for an error by catcher Travis Scott, and a two-run single by Jeremy Moore that tied the game. Moore went to second on the throw home, then when he was sacrificed to third by Carlos Colmenares (a late replacement for an ill Efren Navarro), he scored as reliever Steve Richard’s throw got away. Colmenares went to third on Jay Brossman’s single, and scored on a wild pitch for a 6-4 lead.

Kohn, who was 4-1 with 6 saves, a 2.19 ERA and an impressive 60 strikeouts in 37 innings with low Single-A Cedar Rapids before joining the Quakes Friday, was impressive in striking out two in the ninth to preserve the win.

But along the way, probably unfamiliar to many fans in attendance, Mavericks outfielder Jamie McOwen extended his California League record hitting streak to 40 games.

McOwen was 0-for-3 entering the ninth after barely getting thrown out on a bunt attempt in the fifth and flying out to the warning track in center in the eighth, was down 0-2 and fouled off a pitch, before ripping a single up the middle to extend the hitting streak. He has the second-longest hitting streak in the last 20 years (the longest is 43 games).