Cougars blank Bees in Burlington
BURLINGTON, Iowa - The Kane County Cougars scored five times in the final two innings to defeat the Burlington Bees, 5-0, on Monday night at Community Field.
Cougars' (17-16) starting pitcher Brian Shaffer was unhittable for 5.1 innings. Through the first five innings, Shaffer faced one batter over the minimum, allowing no hits. With one out in the sixth, Bees' (15-19) nine-hole hitter Gleyvin Pineda doubled to left field to end the no-hit bid. In a scoreless game with Pineda at second, Shaffer threw a wild pitch to advance the potential go-ahead run to third base. Shaffer walked Leonardo Rivas to put runners at the corners with one out. After a mound visit, Shaffer struck out Jo Adell for the second out. Adell was Shaffer's last batter of the night. The right-hander exited with no-decision, allowing one hit over 5.2 innings, striking out a career-high 11 batters.
Matt Brill came out of the Cougar bullpen to strikeout Brandon Marsh and strand runners at first and third. Brill stayed on to pitch the seventh and faced the minimum in a scoreless frame.
In the top of the eighth, Yan Sanchez and Gabriel Maciel ignited a Cougars rally with back-to-back singles with no one out. With one down, Yoel Yanqui singled to right field to score Sanchez and give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. In the ninth, Sanchez drove in two runs with a single to left field. A bases loaded walk to Yanqui made it 4-0 Cougars. A batter later, Renae Martinez was hit by a pitch to extend the Cougar lead to 5-0.
The Cougars' late runs earned Brill (2-0) the win. The right-hander struck out three batters in 1.1 scoreless innings. Carlos Bustamante notched a two-inning save, striking out four over 2.0 innings.
Bees' starter Luis Madero did not factor into the decision. He tossed five two-hit, shutout innings, striking out four and walking two. Brett Hanewich didn't allow a run in two innings of relief. James Ziemba (1-1) allowed all five Cougars runs (two earned) in 1.1 innings. Kida De La Cruz recorded the final two outs of the game for Burlington.