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MWL1 Kane County Cougars

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May 19, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release


Homers at Home...The Cougars made it back-to-back wins over Wisconsin with an 8-7 victory last night. Down 4-0 entering the fifth inning, the Cougars roared back behind solo home runs from Jose Pineda and Steve Kleen, a two-run single from Frank Martinez and later a solo blast from Anthony Recker. Kane County had to use six pitchers, as T.J. Franco grabbed the win and Steve Sharpe tossed two innings for his eighth save.

Goin Deep...The Cougars have hit multiple home runs in a game three times this season, doing it last night for the first time at home.

Baisley's Streak...Third baseman Jeff Baisley has hit safely in eight consecutive games in which he's played and 15 of his last 18. He's the third Cougar this season to post an eight-game run. Frank Martinez did it from 4/6-4/14, and Mike Massaro spanned 4/6-4/14 with a nine-game run.

Home Hitting...The Cougars are 14-5 at home this season when they produce five or more hits, including last night's victorious five-hit attack. They're also 6-0 at home when they score first.

Sharpe-Shooter...Closer Steve Sharpe notched his first save last night since May 5 against Fort Wayne, an 11-game separation which is the longest of the season. The previous longest gap between Cougar saves was four games, as Dan Fyvie got a save April 21 and again April 26.

Good Timing...Catcher Anthony Recker's tie-breaking home run in the seventh inning gave the Cougars an 8-7 lead, which remained to give the Cougars 14-0 record at home when they're leading after seven innings and 19-1 overall.

High on Young Guns...Oakland drafted 17 players in the first 15 rounds of the '05 draft, and 11 are on the Cougars' Opening Day roster. Two others (Cliff Pennington and Travis Buck) made Elfstrom appearances last season. The A's also selected six high school players in their first nine picks, and four (Craig Italiano - 2nd round, Jared Lansford - 2nd round, Vince Mazzaro - 3rd round, Justin Sellers - 6th round,) are current Cougars.

Warming Up to a New Skipper...Aurora resident Aaron Nieckula ("Nuke") is the 11th manager in the team's 16-year history, taking over the managing duties after serving as Kane County's hitting coach the past two seasons. Drafted by Oakland in the 22nd round of '98 draft, Nieckula spent five seasons as a minor league catcher for Oakland ('98-'01) and San Francisco ('02).

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are in their 45th MWL season and 14th as a Seattle Mariners affiliate, which ties them with Cedar Rapids (Angels) for the longest standing partnership in the league. The franchise entered the league in 1962 and owns the most championships (7) of any team in the league. They were crowned in 1964, '66-'67, '78 and '82-'84.

All-Time Season Series: This is the 168th meeting between the Cougars and Rattlers. Wisconsin is one of only four current MWL teams that lead the all-time series against the Cougars. Kane County is 77-90 in the 15 years they've played each other. The Cougars were 3-9 against them last season and are 18-21 against Wisconsin as an A's affiliate.

Today's Starters: RHP Jared Lansford (2-1, 1.59) makes his fourth start of the year and first since tossing the fifth no-hitter in Cougars history, a seven-inning effort last Sunday in game one of a doubleheader at Beloit. The Cougars won 4-0, and Lansford walked five, hit a batter and had a pair of 1-2-3 innings. The right-hander has worked five or more innings in all three of his starts and twice has given up no earned runs. The no-hitter earned Lansford honors as Midwest League Pitcher of the Week and MiLB.com Star of the Day. A 2nd-round pick last June out of St. Francis High School in California, Lansford was a talented position player in high school and began pitching the summer before his junior year.

RHP Ruben Flores (0-2, 5.31) pitches tonight for the 13th time this season and makes only his second start. He lost in game two of a doubleheader against Dayton last Saturday after allowing two unearned runs on three hits over three innings while walking three and striking out his season-high six batters. It marked the second time he's logged three or more innings. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA as a reliever. Half of his appearances have been on the road this year (0-1, 9.00) with the other portion in Appleton (0-1, 2.38). Aside from one short outing in Fort Wayne (0.1 IP, 4 runs, 4 walks), he's never allowed more than two runs in an appearance. Flores is celebrating his 22nd birthday today. He was drafted by Seattle in the 12th round of the '03 draft out of El Paso Community College and did not pitch at all last year due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

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