Visiting home runs sink Cougars in series opener

Despite another quality outing from righty Ryan Atkinson, the Kane County Cougars did not have the late innings offense to keep up with the visiting Dayton Dragons in a game that ended in a 9-3 decision. Tied 2-2 to start the eighth, Taylor Trammell's home run for Dayton put the Dragons ahead for good, as the visitors belted 3 homers on the evening.

Off to a fantastic start against southpaw Wennington Romero, the Cougars opened their offensive night with a pair of runs in the first. Ben DeLuzio singled to begin the effort, as Raymel Flores followed with a searing RBI double. Flores later scored on a sacrifice fly from first baseman Paxton De La Garza.

Dayton cut the deficit in half in the second against Atkinson. Bruce Yari leadoff the stanza with a 2-bagger as Hector Vargas followed with a sacrifice fly RBI.

Exiting with a 2-1 lead, it was a fine outing for Atkinson. The Cincinnati product logged a quality outing on 2 hits, 1 run (1 earned), with 3 walks and 9 strikeouts. Atkinson left seeking his first victory since April 18th.

But that victory could not be awarded as Dayton struck to tie the game and take the lead in the seventh and eighth innings. Facing Midwest League All-Star righty Tyler Mark, Dayton tied it-2-2-with an RBI single from Josh Siri in the seventh. Siri extended his Midwest League leading hit streak to 22 straight games. And in the eighth, Trammell slugged a home run over the left field wall as Dayton propelled to a 3-2 advantage.

Mark would allow 2 more runs as the Dragons kept surging offensively for a 5-2 lead in the eighth. After issuing a walk, and Cassidy Brown double, Mark exited for right-hander Cody Clark (0-1). Clark struck out the first batter he faced, but with 2 outs, Malik Collymore's single to left scored 2.

Dayton poured it on with more home run power in the final inning. Against Clark, Siri and John Sansone provided blasts, as the Dragons finished with 3 home runs on the evening. The Cougars scored 1 in the ninth on an RBI single from DeLuzio, but that was all against righty Alfredo Mena.

Mark suffered the loss, as right-hander Carlos Machorro was credited with the win for Dayton in relief.