High Desert Mavericks v. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Preview

The Cal League playoffs begin on Wednesday, and these two teams will meet in a three game series. Whoever wins the series will advance to play a five game series against Lake Elsinore starting on Saturday.

Game One: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Flores) v. High Desert Mavericks (Kasparek) 7:05 PM PT
Game Two: High Desert Mavericks (Hesketh) v. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (TBA) 7:05 PM PT
Game Three (if necessary): High Desert Mavericks (Carraway) v. Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (TBA) 7:05 PM PT

Radio Broadcast: 960 AM (High Desert), 1510 AM (Rancho Cucamonga), www.rcquakes.com and www.milb.com

High Desert is the South division's wild card, but they weren't too far behind Rancho Cucamonga in either half. As usual, the Mavericks got it done with offense. They were led by Rich Poythress, who led the minors in RBI despite a brief stint on the DL late in the season. He wouldn't get all of those RBI if Kyle Seager, the minors leader in hits, wasn't batting in front of him. In addition to Poythress, Johermyn Chavez packs a lot of power in the middle of the High Desert lineup. Kenn Kasparek was the ace of a pitching staff that improved slightly on last year's numbers.

Rancho Cucamonga won the South division's second half championship, clinching on the last day of the season. They posted the same record in the first and second half, so they were a steady team despite players constantly being promoted to different levels. Gabe Jacobo and Angel Castillo were really the only players in the lineup all season, but call ups such as Mike Trout and Luis Jimenez, both Futures Game participants, have done a good job. Their patchwork rotation has consistently been one of the best in the league this year even though no one got enough starts to win 10 games.

. High Desert Season Rancho Cucamonga . 75-65 Overall 78-62 . 37-33 1st Half 39-31 . 38-32 2nd Half 39-31 . 0.296 Average 0.278 . 0.361 OBP 0.338 . 0.475 SLG 0.426 . 860 Runs Scored 738 . 5.01 ERA 4.26 . 964 Strikeouts 1116 . 793 Runs Against 657

. High Desert Last 21 Games Rancho Cucamonga . 13-8 Record 14-7 . 144 Runs Scored 123 . 5.37 Team ERA 4.31 . 6.17 SP ERA 4.3 . 4.29 RP ERA 4.33

Here's a table of head to head results. The two rows at the bottom cover home and away splits for the matchup.

. Date Bold = Win Score . 9/2 HD @ RC 4-3 . 9/1 HD @ RC 9-8 . 8/31 HD @ RC 8-1 . 8/20 HD @ RC 8-5 . 8/19 HD @ RC 9-2 . 8/18 HD @ RC 12-4 . 8/17 HD @ RC 1-0 . 8/1 HD v RC 7-2 . 7/31 HD v RC 4-3 . 7/30 HD v RC 11-7 . 7/12 HD @ RC 8-7 . 7/11 HD @ RC 5-4 . 7/10 HD @ RC 3-2 . 7/6 HD v RC 4-2 . 7/5 HD v RC 23-8 . 7/4 HD v RC 10-8 . 6/30 HD @ RC 9-3 . 6/29 HD @ RC 6-5 . 6/28 HD @ RC 4-1

. 6/10 HD v RC 15-12 . 6/9 HD v RC 7-3 . 6/8 HD v RC 9-0 . 6/7 HD v RC 4-3 . 5/2 HD v RC 7-6 . 5/1 HD v RC 8-6 . 4/30 HD v RC 11-3 . 4/29 HD v RC 5-3 . Tot. HD v RC 9-6 . HD @ RC 8-4

How will High Desert win?

Both teams played better on the road, and that needs to keep up for the Mavericks since they only play once at home. Of course with High Desert hitters, it's important to check to see how they hit on the road. Kyle Seager's splits are pretty much identical, and Rich Poythress is still a really good hitter on the road. Jake Shaffer actually hits for power better on the road. One important name that doesn't hit around the same on the road is Johermyn Chavez. It'll be interesting to see if he can turn it around quickly, but he was a much more ordinary hitter on the road during the regular season.

Kenn Kasparek and Andrew Carraway have to pitch better. Kasparek has a really good year and earned a trip to Myrtle Beach for the All-Star Game, but he struggled after coming back from an injury suffered just after the second half started. August was by far his worst month, posting a 7.68 ERA and showing an unusual lack of control. His last start of the season was very good, and he'll need to carry that momentum over into his start tomorrow. Andrew Carraway has struggled down the stretch as well, but overall this season he's pitched much better on the road, which obviously bodes well for a potential game three. The long ball has been a huge enemy of Carraway this season, both home and away.

How will Rancho Cucamonga win?

The Quakes haven't had any problems scoring runs lately, and obviously it would be nice if that continued. Home or away, games against High Desert can turn into slugfests, and not many teams can keep up with the Mavericks when that happens. One thing that could help is getting back to stealing bases. They were second in the league this year, but their top three base stealers are all playing at different levels now. However, the Quakes still have four active players with double digit steals. High Desert's catchers were second worst in the league in throwing out runners, so the Quakes could have an advantage there.

The bullpen will need to continue to pitch well. All season, the Quakes have had one of the best bullpens, and the Mavericks have had one of the worst. Although that has been a little more even lately, there's a chance that in at least one game against High Desert, a starter isn't going to last long. The bullpen will need to pitch quality innings, maybe even a quantity of innings, to lock down leads because High Desert can almost score at will. Eddie McKiernan has been a reliable closer for the entire year, and it seems like every reliever that passes through the Cal League pitches well. That includes pitchers such as Chris School, Baudillo Lopez and Mike Piazza.