Cougars face must-win

The Kane County Cougars opened up the Western Division championship series Saturday with a 7-0 loss to the Quad Cities River Bandits at Elfstrom Stadium.

The Cougars face a must-win situation Sunday at Quad Cities, looking to force a Game 3 on Monday night in the best-of-three series.

The Cougars were outhit 11-4 as Bandits right-hander Trevor Rosenthal tossed a complete-game shutout. The Cougars only had one inning with multiple men on base. Cheslor Cuthbert and Brett Eibner singled to start the second, but the next three Cougars were retired by Rosenthal.

Leondy Perez took the loss, giving up a run in the second inning, 2 in the third and 1 in the fourth before leaving. He yielded allowed 6 hits, walked none and struck out one.

Santiago Garrido worked a pair of perfect relief innings before giving up 2 runs in the seventh. Edwin Carl allowed a run in the ninth.