Cougars fall to Chiefs

Luis Perdomo and the Peoria Chiefs (25-24) held the Kane County Cougars (24-25) scoreless Friday evening, taking the series opener 5-0 at Dozer Park.

Brad Keller (2-5) tossed his fifth quality start of the season, but allowed the Chiefs to score three times in the third inning. Keller served up just three hits through seven innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Keller becomes the first pitcher to reach five losses despite leading the team in quality outings.

Perdomo (2-4) hardly allowed the Cougars on the bases through eight shutout innings. Victor Reyes was the only Cougar to reach third base on evening as he was the only Cougar with two hits. The Peoria right-hander set a career high going eight innings and was one strikeout shy of tying a career high fanning nine Cougars.

The Chiefs added to their lead with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off Cougar reliever Luis Ramirez.

The Cougars and Chiefs continue their series on Saturday night at Dozer Park. Markus Solbach (4-2, 2.75) will throw for the Cougars against Peoria's left-hander Austin Gomber (4-3, 3.35). First pitch from Dozer Park is at 6:30 p.m. Coverage on AM 1280 WBIG and kccougars.com begins at 6:15 p.m.