Bain dazzles in front of Randy Johnson

With former Diamondback and Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in attendance, Jeff Bain led the Kane County Cougars (39-38, 4-4) to a 5-2 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits (42-36, 2-6) on Thursday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.

In the bottom of the first, Jazz Chisholm unloaded his team-leading 12th homer of the year, a solo shot to put the Cougars up 1-0. In the bottom of the third, Eudy Ramos cracked a solo homer, padding the advantage to 2-0. In the bottom of the fourth, Ernie De La Trinidad led off with a walk. Luis Silverio singled to put runners at the corners with no one out. River Bandits pitcher Yohan Ramirez proceeded to balk, forcing in the third run of the night for the Cougars.

In the fifth, De La Trinidad launched a two-run homer, extending the margin to 5-0 Cougars. The first run for Quad Cities came in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Seth Beer. In the ninth, Ruben Castro collected an RBI double, but he was thrown out at third for the final out of the game.

Cougars starter Jeff Bain (7-2) collected the sixth straight quality start for a Cougar pitcher. Bain tossed a career-high seven innings of shutout ball, allowing five hits and striking out six batters. Erbert Gonzalez allowed two runs in two innings out of the Cougar bullpen.

Bandits' starter Yohan Ramirez (5-7) suffered the loss, allowing three runs over four frames. Dariel Aquino coughed up two runs in his lone inning of work. Jairo Solis hurled three shutout innings.

The Cougars and River Bandits play game two of the four-game homestand on Friday night at Northwestern Medicine Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday is Nickelodeon night at the ballpark. SpongeBob SquarePants will make an appearance and fans will be treated to postgame fireworks.