Kane County Cougars fall to Peoria Chiefs before season-best crowd

For the third game in a row, the Kane County Cougars never led. On Saturday night against the Peoria Chiefs in the opener of a four-game series, the Cougars rallied from a 4-0 deficit but fell 4-3 before a season-high 13,138 at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva.

Greg Billo lost his third start in a row, and the Cougars lost for the sixth time in eight games. With nine games left in the regular season, the Cougars own a 6-game lead over the Beloit Snappers for a Western Division playoff spot.

Billo (9-5), who entered play with the best ERA in the minor leagues, gave up 4 runs in the second inning. Billo scattered a season-high 11 hits over 6 innings, walked two and fanned four. Jason Mitchell tossed 3 scoreless relief innings.

The Cougars did not have a hit until the fifth inning but collected 7 hits in the final two innings. Angel Franco had a sacrifice fly and an RBI single.