Kane County racks Up 10 hits in 8-7 win
In a back-and-forth ballgame, the Kane County Cougars earned an 8-7 victory over the Kansas City Monarchs on Thursday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.
Kansas City (27-16) quickly jumped out to a lead against Cougars' (21-22) starter AJ Jones. After loading the bases, the Monarchs cashed in as Brian O'Grady ripped a two-run double to make it 2-0 Monarchs. Kansas City added three more in the top of the second on a three-run homer by Jan Hernandez to make it 5-0. It was the second straight game with a home run for Hernandez.
In the bottom of the second, the Cougars began to come back. JD Osborne led off the inning with a double before Jimmy Kerrigan was hit by a pitch and Daniel Wasinger walked to load the bases. Then, Monarchs starter Zach Matson hit Pete Kozma with a pitch to score Osborne and make it 5-1. After Kozma was hit, Galli Cribbs Jr. smacked a double to score two more runs and cut it to a 5-3 Monarchs lead.
After the Cougars cut into the lead, the Monarchs struck right back in the top of the third. Following a Gavin Collins single, Peter Maris belted a two-run homer to make it a 7-3 Kansas City lead. However, that would end up being the final run of the night for the Monarchs.
The Cougars continued to rally in the bottom of the third, as Gio Brusa doubled off the wall to score Osborne and pull the Cougars within three. One inning later, Wasinger crushed an opposite field solo homer to make it a 7-5 ballgame. It was Wasinger's second home run of the series. Kane County inched even closer in the fifth, as Kozma drove in another run with a groundout to make it 7-6.
Kane County finally took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Facing Kansas City reliever Matt Hartman (0-1), Josh Allen led off the inning with a double down the left field line. One batter later, Armond Upshaw blasted a two-run homer to straight away center field to put the Cougars ahead 8-7. It was Upshaw's first home run of the season.
Though Kansas City scored seven runs in the first three innings, the Cougars' bullpen held the Monarchs without a run in the final six. Jose Fuentes (1-0) earned the victory by tossing three scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. Following Fuentes, Keith Rogalla and Logan Nissen worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings respectively. In the ninth, Daniel Bies slammed the door with a perfect inning to earn his sixth save of the season. Bies has allowed just one earned run in 25.2 innings of work.