Kane County Cougars win seventh straight game

The streaking Kane County Cougars (7-1, 43-33) stayed hot as they won their seventh consecutive win with a 7-5 victory over the Clinton LumberKings (3-5, 29-48) Thursday evening at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.

The Cougars have now won 10 straight games at home.

All of the Cougars' runs came with two outs, but the biggest inning was the bottom of the eighth. Michael Perez led off the inning with a single and eventually advanced up to third base on an error by Clinton's pitcher Nick Valenza (0-1). The LumberKing reliever worked two outs after the errant throw, but Victor Reyes finally cashed in the run with an RBI single. Ildemaro Vargas continued the offense with a single and Chuck Taylor singled home Reyes for an insurance run.

In the ninth with the Cougars leading 7-5, Luis Ramirez took the mound in line for the save for his second consecutive outing. The Cougar right-hander added some drama putting runners at the corners, but struck out Estarlyn Morales for his fourth save on the year.

Cody Geyer (3-1) picked up the win after stranding a leadoff double in a scoreless eighth.

Colin Bray drove in the first Cougar run successfully putting down a suicide with two outs in the fourth. Perez followed with a run scoring base hit for the team's first lead of the day. Back-to-back two-out doubles by Vargas and Taylor helped the Cougars to two more runs in the fifth, before Marty Herum connected on an RBI single.

Clinton took the first lead of the day with Morales' solo shot in the fourth, but did most of their damage when they batted around in the sixth and forced Cougar starter Ryan Doran out of the game.

The Cougars finish the homestand on Friday against the LumberKings. Ethan Elias (7-3, 2.61) will take the mound for the Cougars against Clinton's Lukas Schiraldi (4-4, 4.33). First pitch at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.