Cron sends Sixers to grand finish

C.J. Cron’s dramatic grand slam with one out in the bottom of the 11th capped a rally from a 6-3 deficit at the 66ers downed the Quakes 10-6 before 6,376 on Loma Linda Night at San Manuel Stadium.

The Quakes scored three in the first and three in the third to take a 6-3 lead.

The Sixers scored three in the bottom of the first, then Quakes starter Andres Santiago retired 14 in a row and 19 of 20 before coming out after seven innings with a 6-3 lead.

Meanwhile, Quakes outfielder Jonathan Garcia will be facing a lengthy suspension. He was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Gonzalez for arguing a third strike in the 6th inning. Garcia then threw the bat in disgust in Gonzalez’s direction, hitting him in the ankle. It looked even worse because Garcia was throwing the bat AWAY from his own dugout.

The bullpen couldn’t hold it. Ryan Acosta allowed all three batters he faced in the eighth to reach base. The Sixers scored twice, cutting it to 6-5. Eric Eadington, who is second in the league with 17 saves and has 22 overall this season, kept the Quakes’ slim lead.

But in the ninth, Eadington suffered his second blown save as Jean Almanzar’s one-out triple to right scored pinch-runner Ryan Jones to tie the score. The Sixers failed to get the ame-winner home as both Drew Heid and Taylor Lindsey grounded out.

In the 10th, both teams loaded the bases but failed to score.

In the 11th, the Sixers loaded the bases on an Almanzar leadoff single and Lindsey and Kaleb Cowart one-out singles. Cron then belted a 1-1 pitch to the back of Home Run Hill in left field. It was only his 3rd home run at home this season, compared to 14 on the road. He now leads all of minor league baseball with 95 RBIs.