Cougars garner 60th win

The Kane County Cougars (24-8, 60-40) finally punched their 60th victory of the season with a 5-1 win over the Burlington Bees (12-20, 47-54) Tuesday evening at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.

Brad Keller (6-9) quickly set the tone, retiring the first seven hitters he faced before giving up back-to-back singles in the third inning. The pair of base hits was the only two for Burlington against Keller and just half of the Bees' four on the entire evening. The right-hander picked up the win with six scoreless innings and three strikeouts.

For the first time in their last five games, the Cougars found the scoreboard before the fifth inning. Michael Perez broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second, bringing home Henry Castillo. An inning later, Ildemaro Vargas connected on a one-out single before Cody Regis brought him home on a groundout.

The Cougar offense made the biggest impact in the sixth frame as they knocked out Burlington's starter Michael Bolaski (7-7). After Marty Herum and Castillo started the inning with consecutive singles, Colin Bray made it 3-0 with an RBI single and forced Burlington to make a pitching change. Alex Klonowski retired the first batter with a strikeout, but served up a two-run double to Victor Reyes for a 5-0 Cougar lead.

Jose Martinez worked two innings of relief and gave up a solo home run to Tim Arakawa doing so, but the right-hander allowed just one run through two innings.

Cody Geyer stranded two runners in his scoreless ninth.

The Cougars look to guarantee a series win as they host Burlington Wednesday night. Ethan Elias (9-3, 2.20) will take the mound for the Cougars against Burlington's Keynan Middleton (5-7, 4.91). First pitch from Fifth Third Bank Ballpark is at 6:30 p.m.