The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, defeated the Modesto Nuts of the Seattle Mariners, 12-8, led by the hitting of outfield prospect Yunior Garcia.
The 21-year-old originally signed with the Dodgers as an international free agent out of the Domincan Republic on July 29, 2017, and spent the next two seasons, along with 2021, playing in the Rookie League. He, like many other Minor Leaguers, did not play in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Garcia earned a spot on the Quakes’ 2022 Opening Day roster and has proven he belongs, which was highlighted on Friday with a 5-for-5 day that included three home runs, four runs scored and six RBI.
Garcia’s first homer came in the first inning to put the Quakes up 2-0. The ball left his bat at 110 mph and traveled an estimated 489 feet, which is the longest home run a Quakes player has hit this season.
THE QUAKES TAKE THE LEAD❗️
Yunior Garcia SMACKS a TWO-RUN HOMER to left field 🗣
This is the LONGEST HOME RUN by any Quake THIS YEAR at 489 ft 😤
The ball left the bat at 110 mph ☄️
Rancho up 2-0
Bot 1st #GOQUAKES pic.twitter.com/5bOoMSPeM3— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) August 20, 2022
The Quakes RALLY in the third inning!
On two outs, Yeiner Fernandez walks.
Next…
Yunior Garcia SLUGS his SECOND HOME RUN of the game for his 12th HOMER of the ’22 season!
Rancho down 6-4
Top of 4th next pic.twitter.com/gKD0u95YS0— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) August 20, 2022
UNBELIEVABLE❗️ YUNIOR GARCIA CRUSHES HIS THIRD HOME RUN TONIGHT🔥
That makes 13 for this season😤
Quakes extend their lead over the Nuts 12-6❗️
Bot 8th pic.twitter.com/7Qo2IloONQ
— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) August 20, 2022
The Nuts rallied to score six runs during the second and third innings, to go up 6-2, but Garcia then cut that deficit in half in the bottom of the third inning with his second two-run blast of the game.
In the fifth inning, Garcia tied the game with an RBI double, his 28th of the season. He added a single in the seventh inning and came around to score on a base hit from Luis Rodriguez to put Rancho Cucamonga up 9-6.
Garcia then capped off his night in the eighth inning with a solo home run to make the score 12-6.
The right-handed hitter is now batting .307/.382/.517 in 329 at-bats with 74 RBI, 57 runs scored, 13 home runs and two stolen bases. Over his 181-game Minor League career, Garcia is hitting .278/.352/.471 with 25 home runs.
Garcia is the first Quakes player to hit three home runs in one game since Carlos Rincon on Aug. 30, 2018.
Former Dodgers Minor Leaguer Dellin Betances retires
Dellin Betances pitched just 13.1 Major League innings since the start of the 2019 season, but as he tried to give his career one more opportunity to continue, the once-elite reliever signed a Minor League contract with the Dodgers.
Betances was pitching in games at the Rookie League level and later joined Triple-A Oklahoma City. However, the right-hander reportedly decided to retire after finding little success on the mound.
With the Oklahoma City Dodgers, Betances appeared in 15 games and pitched 13 innings, but he pitched to an ERA of 11.08. The results weren’t much better in the Rookie League either as he posted a 7.36 ERA, however, it was only over 3.2 innings.
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