Cougars, pitching staff remain hot

Burlington, Iowa - The Kane County Cougars (12-7) pitching staff continued its dominance in a 4-0 over the Burlington Bees (12-7) on Tuesday night at Community Field. It was the pitching staff's third shutout in five games & the fifth game in a row Cougar starting pitching did not allow an earned run.

Justin Lewis (1-1) turned in his best outing of the year in his starting role. Over five innings, the right-hander locked down Burlington for no runs on four hits with four punchouts and no walks. In the first inning, Lewis allowed two singles and faced runners at first and second with one out. He induced a double play ball to get out of the jam. After that point, Lewis retired 12 of the next 14 batters he faced.

The Cougar offense backed Lewis with single runs in the third and fourth innings. Alex King's third homer of the year opened the scoring. Geraldo Perdomo led off the fourth with a triple. Two batters later, Alek Thomas grounded out to second base, scoring Perdomo to make it 2-0 Cougars.

Kenny Hernandez took over for Lewis on the mound in the sixth. For the second time on the night, the Bees had runners at first and second and one out, but did not score. Hernandez struck out Spencer Griffin with two aboard, then got Francisco Del Valle to pop out.

Hernandez went six up, six down in the seventh and eighth innings.

In the top of the ninth, Alek Thomas singled and Eduardo Diaz walked to start the frame. With two outs, Eddie Hernandez drove both men home with a single to right field.

Chester Pimentel worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the Cougars. Robinson Pina (2-1) took the loss for the Bees, despite only allowing two runs on three hits with eight strikeouts.

The Cougars seek a series sweep on Wednesday morning. Cougars LHP Franklyn Soriano (2-0, 1.23) toes the rubber opposite of Bees' RHP Cristopher Molina (0-0, 1.29). First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.