Cougars' offense runs dry

Stymied at the plate Thursday, the Kane County Cougars (40-51, 7-14) fell to the West Michigan Whitecaps (49-37, 10-9) for the second time in as many tries from Fifth Third Bank Ballpark by a 5-1 score. The Cougars scored their lone run in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI sacrifice-fly from B.J. Lopez but failed to wrestle out any more runs with only seven total hits.

Having dropped three staright, the Cougars have started the six-game homestand winless as the Whitecaps starting pitching has combined for ten and one-third innings on just three runs in the series.

Scoring first like they did in game one, the Whitecaps struck for a pair of runs in the first inning. After base hits from Rashad Brown and Will Maddox, Brett Pirtle recorded a sac-fly RBI, followed by a run scoring hit from Jose Azocar.

Facing an effective left-hander, Eudis Idrogo (2-3), the Cougars slashed the lead in half with a tally in the fourth. Joey Armstrong laced a base hit up the middle to lead-off the frame and scored on a sac-fly from B.J. Lopez. It was Lopez's first RBI as a Cougar this season.

That was the only run scored by the Cougars as the Whitecaps added single runs in the fifth, seventh, and ninth innings. Willd Maddox accounted for half of the run production with a sac-fly and base hit. The other run was driven in by Derek Hill in the ninth.

The pitching from the Cougars was inconsistent with mixed success. Carlos Hernandez exited after four innings and surrendered two runs, both earned. In his second start since returning from the disabled list, Hernandez allowed five hits with two strikeouts and just one walk. In relief, right-handers Austin Mason (2-0) and Jose Martinez (0-0) totaled five innings on three runs with a strikeout each.

Winning his first game since April, Idrogo picked up the victory, Hernandez took the loss without a win since June 19th.