Gil, Straily lead Cougars to a sweep

BURLINGTON, Iowa - The Kane County Cougars wrapped up a seven-game road trip and returned to the .500 mark on Thursday afternoon after a 7-4 victory over the Burlington Bees at Community Field. Leonardo Gil nailed a three-run homer and missed the cycle by a triple, and Dan Straily posted six shutout innings for his third win. The Cougars, who started the trip by getting swept in Cedar Rapids, swept the Bees and improved to 6-0 against them this season.

Gil's three-run shot in the fourth off Tyler Sample (1-1) gave the Cougars a 3-0 cushion, and they added single runs over the next three innings. Juan Nunez tripled home Nino Leyja in the fifth, Leyja singled in Rashun Dixon in the sixth and Mike Gilmartin scampered home in the seventh on a wild pitch. The Cougars' final run came in the ninth on a Myrio Richard RBI groundout. All nine players either walked, had a hit or drove in a run.

Straily (3-1) gave up five hits, walked one and fanned seven over his six innings, giving the Cougars their third quality start of the series. He faced the minimum three times and yielded just one extra-base hit. Bo Schultz tossed two scoreless innings in Straily's stead, and Hector Garcia got touched for four runs -- one earned -- in the ninth before ending it.

The Cougars (14-14) are back at Elfstrom Stadium for a three-game series with the Peoria Chiefs (18-10) that starts Friday night at 7 CT. The Cougars have not named their starting pitcher, as they need to replace the rotation spot of the injured Chris Mederos. Peoria will send Trey McNutt (1-0, 1.57) to the hill. The game will be broadcast on WBIG 1280-AM and online at www.kccougars.com, with pregame coverage starting at 6:45 p.m.