Cougars lose series finale

The Kane County Cougars dropped the finale of a five-game series against the Quad Cities River Bandits 9-5 Monday afternoon in front of 6,026 at Elfstrom Stadium.

All five Cougars pitchers allowed at least 1 run, and the team lost three of the five in the series and eight of 13 overall.

Ryne Tacker made his professional debut as the Cougars' starter but gave up 3 runs in the first inning and didn't return. The Cougars took him off the hook in the bottom half, though, courtesy of run-scoring hits from Danny Hamblin, Greg Dowling and Jonathan Johnston.

The 3-3 score remained until the fourth inning when reliever Nick Walters (1-1) yielded a run and then gave up another during a 2-run top of the fifth to make it 6-3.

Corey Brown led off the bottom of the ninth with his eighth homer of the season to account for the 9-5 final.