Cougars blank Snappers

Yordano Ventura, Antonio Cruz and Chase Boruff combined to pitch a 4-hitter Thursday night and the Kane County Cougars avenged a 10-1 loss from Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over the Beloit Snappers at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva.

The three-game series is even at 1 win apiece, and the Cougars maintained a 3-game lead for the top second-half playoff spot in the Western Division with 18 games remaining. The Cougars also hold a seven-game lead over Beloit for a playoff berth of any kind.

Ventura (3-4) gave up 4 singles, walked one and struck out five in the win. It was his first outing of 5-plus innings since July 4 and his first win since June 24. Cruz took over and saw the minimum in 2 innings, and Boruff retired all 6 batters he saw to record his sixth save. Beloit did not have a hit after the fifth inning, and Cruz and Boruff combined to retire the final 11 Snappers.

Offensively the Cougars took advantage of a pair of breaks. Angel Franco scored the game’s first run in the fourth on a two-out balk by Manuel Soliman (7-9), and Brian Fletcher was hit by a pitch in the seventh and scored on a two-out bloop double by Jake Kuebler. The Cougars beat Soliman for the fourth time this season and are 11-5 against the Snappers.