Bees buzz Cougars
BURLINGTON, Iowa - The bats boomed early, then the bullpens battled as the Burlington Bees buzzed the Kane County Cougars 5-4 in the series opener Tuesday night at Community Field.
The Cougars (8-11) scored in each of the first three innings, but the Bees (12-7) retaliated every time. The Cougars' Marty Herum broke a 1-1 tie when he led off the second with a solo homer, his second of the season. But the Bees took the lead with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning.
Steve McQuail tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but the Cougars stranded a runner at third. The Bees retook the lead on Natanel Delgado's RBI single in the third and the Cougars scored only once more.
Jeremy Rhoades (3-0) picked up the win, allowing 4 earned runs through 5⅔ innings. Brad Keller (0-3) suffered the loss, giving up 4 earned runs in 5 innings. Cougars relievers Bud Jeter and Cody Geyer combined for 3 shutout relief innings.
Tyler Carpenter recorded a hold and Eduardo Paredes tossed a perfect ninth inning for his fifth save in five tries.
The series continues today at 6:30 p.m. when the Cougars' Markus Solbach (1-1, 2.50 ERA) goes against Kenyan Middleton (1-0, 3.63).