Cougars drop sixth straight
The Kane County Cougars’ late rally fell short against the Beloit Snappers on Wednesday in a 5-4 loss at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva, extending their season-high losing streak to six games.
The Cougars (30-42, 0-6) pulled to within a run of the Snappers (48-28, 5-1) in the eighth inning when Brad Zapenas drove in Gioskar Amaya with an RBI double before Bijan Rademacher laced a liner to center to score Zapenas.
In the bottom of the ninth, Dan Vogelbach opened with a single, his fourth hit of the game. Vogelbach was lifted for pinch runner Oliver Zapata. Jeimer Candelario, the next batter, scorched a liner directly at first baseman Matt Olson, who made the catch and stepped on first base to complete the double play and effectively end the Cougars’ threat.
The Snappers took the lead early against Cougars starter Jose Rosario (0-4), who struggled with his command. In a 3-run fourth inning, Rosario walked three batters, tossed 2 wild pitches and allowed a pair of RBI singles to Chris Bostick and Ryan Delgado.
Rosario worked 32⁄3 innings, walking four, hitting two batters and allowing 4 runs on 3 hits.
The Cougars took a brief lead in the second inning on a Gioskar Amaya solo home run after tying the game in the first on a Candelario RBI double against Snappers starter Vincent Voiro (4-2). Voiro allowed 7 hits but just 2 runs in 5 innings of work.
Justin Amlung was not charged with a run 31⁄3 innings out of the bullpen. The righty did not allow a hit and struck out five Snappers. Armando Rivero worked the eighth and ninth innings for the Cougars. The right-hander allowed a solo home run to the first batter he faced before striking out three and allowing just an infield hit the rest of the way.
The Snappers’ Austin House (3) tossed a scoreless ninth to record his third save of the year.
The Cougars are back in action at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against Beloit. All-star Tayler Scott (2-2) will face off against the Snappers’ Derek DeYoung (4-3).