Cougars keep sliding

Leonel Santiago delivered his fourth consecutive quality start and Lane Adams belted his first home run, but the Kane County Cougars suffered their 10th loss in the last 11 games, a 4-1 defeat to the Quad Cities River Bandits at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva.

Adams’ solo homer came in the second inning off Jordan Swagerty (3-1) and gave the Cougars their first lead in 31 innings, going back to Saturday night. But the offense had only 5 hits and has scored only 30 runs in the last 11 games.

Santiago (2-3) gave up 4 runs — 2 earned — on 5 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts in seven-plus innings. The Cougars’ starting rotation has a 1.13 ERA in the past six games, but the quintet is 1-2 in that stretch.