Cougars can't find that Swing
August 30, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release
Davenport, IA - The Kane County Cougars lost their third consecutive game to the Swing of the Quad Cities on Wednesday night, falling 7-2 in front of 2,398 at John O'Donnell Stadium. The Cougars led briefly in the third inning but had just one hit over the final six innings and made four errors on defense.
The Swing scored an unearned run in the first inning against starter Joe Piekarz before the Cougars responded with an unearned run of their own in the second against Adam Ottavino. Jose Pineda reached on an error and, after a Raul Padron single, came around on a base hit by Matt Sulentic that made it 1-1.
The Cougars' short-lived advantage arrived in the third when Jose Pineda bounced into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, providing Piekarz with a 2-1 lead. Quad Cities, though, answered in the bottom half of the inning with another unearned tally. The 2-2 score remained until the sixth when the Swing scored three times, twice against Piekarz and once off John Herrera. Piekarz (8-7) allowed four runs -- one earned -- over 5 1/3 innings, gave up seven hits, walked three and fanned seven in the loss.
Herrera surrendered two more runs in the seventh for the 7-2 score that later became the final. Branden Dewing and Scott Moore, making his Cougars debut, combined for a 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief as a bright spot. Ottavino (2-3) grabbed the win for Quad Cities.
The Cougars (37-28) have lost three straight, and the Swing (40-24) have won six in a row. The teams are likely to oppose each other in the first round of the playoffs next Wednesday. They conclude their current four-game series Thursday night at 6:30 CT, as Kenny Durost (0-1, 5.06) faces Trey Hearne (12-3, 2.20). The contest is the Cougars' final road game of the regular season.
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