Kane County Cougars wrap up 5-1 home stand

Not having a lead until the seventh inning, the Kane County Cougars (16-3, 52-35) came from behind twice to beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels (11-8, 52-37) by a score of 4-2 on Monday.

Both starting pitchers brought a 1-1 tie into the sixth inning as Josh Taylor made his second start with the Cougars. Luke Westphal coughed up 1 run in the opening frame, but held the Cougars to just 2 hits since then and retired the final 10 batters he faced.

Randy LeBlanc (6-2) became the first reliever for the Kernels, taking the mound in the bottom of the seventh. The Cougars' offense took advantage of the new right-hander as Joe Munoz led off with a single and eventually scored on Henry Castillo's base hit to tie the game. LeBlanc walked Victor Reyes to load the bases, then made the mistake of forcing in the go-ahead run with a bases loaded walk to Ildemaro Vargas. An inning later, Cody Regis drove home an insurance run by singling home Colin Bray.

The Cougars' bullpen provide four innings of 2-hit, 1-run baseball. In the eighth inning, Nick Baker surrendered a 2-out RBI double to Nick Gordon that gave Cedar Rapids its second lead. Other than that, Baker, Jose Martinez and Zac Curtis tossed perfect baseball in the last four frames. Curtis (19) collected his 19th save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Cougars will enjoy an off day on Tuesday before beginning a three-game series in Clinton, Iowa, against the LumberKings.