Kane County Cougars shut down Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Kane County Cougars (40-19, 76-51) shut out their opponent for the 13th time this season as they took the series opener from the Cedar Rapids Kernels (31-28, 72-57) with a 5-0 win Thursday evening.

Jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the second, the Cougars scored runs on a Stryker Trahan groundout and later on an error by the Kernels starter Randy Rosario.

Ildemaro Vargas led off the third inning with a single and came home to score on a passed ball for a 3-0 Cougar advantage.

Rosario (1-5) didn't allow another Cougar baserunner as he finished the day with a quality outing of six innings, allowing 1 earned run.

Three runs of offense was plenty, as Jared Miller (4-4) stranded seven Kernels runners with four of them in scoring position. The Cougar lefty escaped jams from innings two through five in his third start against the Cedar Rapids offense.

Vargas ended a trend of 13 straight retired Cougars when he reached on an error in the eighth. The Cougar shortstop later scored on another error by Cedar Rapids. Three batters later Joe Munoz singled home Marty Herum for a 5-run lead.

The Cougars' bullpen picked up where Miller left, as Jose Martinez, Jency Solis and Hector Hernandez combined for four scoreless innings to end the game.

Cedar Rapids ended up stranded 12 base runners throughout the night.