Walton's double snaps Cougars' skid

GENEVA - Kent Walton, in his second game off the disabled list, belted a game-deciding two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday night at Elfstrom Stadium, lifting the Kane County Cougars to a 3-2 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and snapping the team's eight-game losing streak. The skid was the Cougars' longest since '07.

Both teams received a quality start in each of the three games in the series. Thursday night Dan Straily and Kyle Heckathorn went head-to-head, each lasting seven innings for no-decisions. Straily allowed two runs -- one earned -- on three hits, walked one and matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts. He has allowed two earned runs over his last five outings, a 26-inning span.

Franklin Hernandez's RBI single in the second scored Anthony Aliotti and tied the game, 1-1, and Wisconsin pulled ahead with an unearned run off Straily in the fifth. The Cougars, averaging 1.8 runs per game during the skid, rallied in the eighth against Santo Manzanillo (0-1). Juan Nunez walked, Mike Gilmartin singled and Walton drilled a double to the left-field corner for a 3-2 score. Connor Hoehn (4-2), who had worked a scoreless eighth, struck out the side in the ninth for the win.

The Cougars (21-27) continue their seven-game homestand Friday night at 7 CT with the opener of a four-game series against the Clinton LumberKings.