Cougars fend off late Clinton comeback to even series

In a nail-biter, the Kane County Cougars (28-23, 67-61) claimed a 5-4 victory over the host Clinton LumberKings (21-30, 52-66) to even this series. The Cougars once lead 5-0, but the LumberKings scored four unanswered, stranding the bases loaded against the Cougars bullpen in the eighth inning.

Off to another strong start this series, the Cougars blasted losing righty starter Ryne Inman (1-3) for two runs in the first. Anfernee Grier started the Cougars offense front with a walk and later scored on an RBI double from Marcus Wilson. On his 21st birthday, Wilson scored on a sac-fly from Ramon Hernandez as the Cougars went up 2-0.

With Inman still in the ballgame, the Cougars feasted again for a trio of runs in the fifth. With Cole Thompson on third, Grier swatted a sac-fly RBI. And with two outs, Stephen Smith guided a floater to left field for another run scoring single. The scoring onslaught continued as Smith scored on an RBI base hit from Adam Walton pushing the Cougars' lead to five runs.

But Clinton responded with four unanswered runs, three against Cougars' winning righty starter Riley Smith (2-0). Johnny Slater and Jhombeyker Morales came through with RBI damage as Dimas Ojeda later came around to score on a wild pitch.

It was a fine evening once again for Smith. He registered a quality start of six innings on eight hits, three runs (three earned), with his second straight start of eight strikeouts next to just one walk.

Clinton loaded the bases in the eighth against righty Tyler Mark (5-3), but right-hander Carlos Bustamante (0-0) slammed the door with a strikeout of Dimas Ojeda to preserve the Cougars' lead. Bustamante hung on in the ninth for his first save, a 1-2-3 inning.

On Wednesday, the Cougars play at Clinton at 6:30 p.m. On the mound for the Cougars, right-hander Emilio Vargas (5-4, 3.39 ERA) duels Clinton's southpaw Danny Garcia (6-11, 6.13 ERA).