Cougars close out road trip with a loss
MIDLAND, Mich. - The Kane County Cougars lost the final game of a six-game road trip, 4-3, against the Great Lakes Loons on Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond.
In the bottom of the second inning, Loons' (9-18) first baseman Jared Walker was hit by a pitch with one out. Walker then stole second base. Marcus Chiu flew out to right field, advancing Walker to third. Gersel Pitre hit a ground ball to short and Cougars (12-15) infielder Jasrado Chisholm committed a throwing error, allowing the first run to score, making it 1-0 Loons.
In the top of the fifth, Yan Sanchez led off with a single. Gabriel Maciel followed with a walk. Chisholm singled to load the bases. Yoel Yanqui stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no one out and tied the game with an RBI ground out to first base. The next batter, Eudy Ramos, singled to left field, scoring Maciel and Chisholm to give the Cougars a 3-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Romer Cudrado tripled to start the frame. With one out, Starling Heredia walked to put runners at the corners, ending the day for Cougars' starter Mack Lemieux. The first batter that new Cougar right-hander Carlos Bustamante faced was Jared Walker. Walker clubbed a home run to right field, giving the Loons the lead for good, 4-3.
Lemiuex took a no-decision for the Cougars. The lefty struck out a career-high nine batters over 5.1 innings. Lemieux surrendered three runs (two earned) on three hits. Carlos Bustamante (1-1) suffered a blown save and the loss, giving up a run one two hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Jordan Watson pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Cougars.
Great Lakes starter Max Gamboa allowed all three Cougar runs to score and was lifted after 4+ innings. Logan Salow (3-0) tossed two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with three strikeouts. Marshall Kasowski allowed one hit over two shutout innings that included five strikeouts. Aneurys Zabala (1) stranded runners at first and second in the ninth inning to earn the save.