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Josh Taylor fans 13 in fourth consecutive Kane County Cougars win

Since being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization, Josh Taylor has slightly improved each outing. The left-hander set his own bar pretty high Friday night as he fanned 13 Kernels. The Kane County Cougars (27-8, 63-40) won their fourth consecutive game, taking the series opener from Cedar Rapids (20-15, 61-44) by a score of 5-1.

Taylor's first 6 strikeouts came within the opening three innings. Even though the Kernels scored the first run of the day on three straight singles, Taylor retired the next 7 batters. The southpaw's only perfect frames came in the second (where he struck out the side) and the third.

The Cougars' offense took over beginning in the second frame. Joe Munoz started the scoring with a game-tying double to plate Ryan Gebhardt. Munoz later came home on a balk for the first Cougars lead 2-1. Two innings later, Colin Bray led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch. A few batters later, Quinnton Mack singled home Gebhardt for a 4-1 Cougars' advantage against Kernels' starter Randy Rosario (1-2).

Elvin Soto added some premature fireworks in the bottom of the eighth inning with a solo shot over the left field wall. It was the Cougars catcher's first home run of the year.

Everything else was all Taylor (2-1). The 22-year-old allowed at least one base runner in seven of the nine innings he tossed, but induced 3 double plays throughout the contest. After only striking out 2 batters from the fourth through the seventh innings, Taylor returned to form and struck out the side in the eighth. Two strikeouts in the ninth set a season-high for the Cougars with 13. The Phoenix native also became the first Cougars player to hurl a nine-inning complete game in 2015.

The Cougars and Kernels are set to continue their series at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

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