Cougars swept by Great Lakes

MIDLAND, Mich. - Joey Curletta did all the damage for Great Lakes (14-15, 48-52) on Monday afternoon, but it was just enough to finish a sweep over the Kane County Cougars (19-11, 64-36) with a 3-1 victory at the Dow Diamond.

Both teams threatened the first two innings but couldn't get a run home. Great Lakes found the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third. Alex Santana bunted Jesmuel Valentin to third base setting up an RBI double for Curletta.

Zachary Bird started the game with a 4-11 record and a three-game losing streak. After keeping the Cougars scoreless through the first four innings, Jeimer Candelario tied it with two outs in the fifth. Candelario sent a solo blast over the wall in right-center to knock Bird out of the game and deny him of the win.

The tie was short-lived as Curletta found another opportunity to give the Loons the lead in the bottom half. With Santana at first, Curletta drilled a 1-0 from Daury Torrez (9-5) over the left-field wall to put Great Lakes ahead 3-1.

That was all the scoring the Loons would need as their bullpen again worked 4 scoreless innings. Michael Johnson (3-2) started the relief session with 1⅓ innings of perfect baseball. Matt Campbell tossed a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.

The Cougars enjoy an off-day Tuesday before welcoming the South Bend Silver Hawks on Wednesday to start a stretch of 40 games in 41 days. Wednesday's game also begins a six-game homestand.