Cougars pitchers earn 4-0 shutout

Kane County righty Tayler Scott outdueled Peoria’s Joe Cuda in the Cougars’ 4-0 shutout of the Chiefs on Wednesday afternoon at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva. A crowd of 7,972 watched the Cougars get back to .500 on the season.

Scott (2-1) started for the Cougars (18-18) and allowed just two hits over 7.1 innings against the Chiefs (18-18) while walking two batters and striking out a pair. Scott retired the first eight Chiefs to begin the game. Scott was knocked out of the game after giving up a double with one out in the eighth inning. Nathan Dorris relieved Scott after that and completed the Cougars’ second shutout of the season recording the final five outs for his team-leading third save.

Joe Cuda (2-2) started for the Chiefs and wpitched 6.1 strong innings inning while striking out a career-high nine. The Cougars knocked Cuda out of the game in the seventh thanks to a Rock Shoulders single, and a Willson Contreras RBI triple to give Kane County a 2-0. Joe Scanio relieved Cuda and immediately surrendered an RBI single to Marco Hernandez. Contreras would add his second RBI of the day with a single to score Rademacher in the bottom of the eighth.

The Cougars will wrap up their four-game series against the Chiefs at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark with a split day-night doubleheader on Wednesday. Game one will start at 11:30 a.m. Game two will begin at 6:30 p.m.