Chiefs overwhelm Cougars

Unable to contain the pitching prowess of right-hander Mike O'Reilly (4-1), the Kane County Cougars (32-25) encountered a series tying loss to the Peoria Chiefs on Wednesday night in Peoria by a 6-0 final. The Chiefs applied the most pressure in the fourth inning with four runs. And the Cougars were held to just two hits in a brilliant complete game shutout by O'Reilly.

O'Reilly's alarming performance was the first complete game shutout against the Cougars since Randy LeBlanc did it for Cedar Rapids on May 11th, 2016.

Identical to Tuesday night, it was the Chiefs offense that motored ahead to a lead, this time scoring five runs in the first four innings. Facing southpaw Mack Lemieux (0-2), Peoria received an RBI base hit from Vince Jackson in the second. And then in the fourth, Juan Yepez followed with a line drive single to create the second tally. As the machine kept producing, J.R. Davis whacked a double to score a pair, and Shane Billings finished with a liner to score one as well.

Lemieux - who suffered the loss - lasted just three and two-thirds innings on eight hits, five runs (five earned), with one strikeout and walks. It raises Lemieux's season ERA to 6.62.

On the other hand, the Midwest League all-star O'Reilly was sensational. The Chiefs starter lasted the entire game on just 85 pitches. Both hits from the Cougars, owned by Anfernee Grier, the league all-star. It's the fewest amount of hits for the team in a game this season.

The Chiefs added one more insurance run in the eighth to polish off a convincing 6-0 win. On Thursday, the Cougars play the series finale at 7 p.m. from Dozer Park. For the Cougars, right-hander Curtis Taylor (0-4, 3.81 ERA) duels fellow righty Jordan Hicks (7-1, 3.54 ERA).