7/28, Cougars 5, Cedar Rapids 4

Two in a row, feels so good after losing six in a row. Well the Cougars beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the first game of the long road trip 5-4.

The Cougars would get on the board right away in the first. With one out, Dusty Coleman singled to left. Steve Parker then followed with a single to right center. Mike Spina then singled to right to score Coleman. Franklin Hernandez would reach on a fielder's choice, Spina broke up the double play at second, and Parker scored.

Cedar Rapids did come back to tie the game in the second inning. Beau Brooks led it off with a single to right. Angel Castillo then singled to left. Matt Crawford would single to right to drive home Brooks. Dwayne Bailey grounded to short to allow Castillo to score.

Hernandez led off the fourth with a singel to short. Petey Paramore then walked. Two outs later, Chris Berroa singled to left to score Hernandez. In the fifth inning the Cougars scored their last two runs of the game. Coleman led off with a walk. Parker then singled to right. A double steal put both runners in scoring position. One out later, Hernandez walked to load the bases. Paramore then singled to right to score Coleman. The Kernels would then make a pitching change. Jeremy Barfield hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Parker.

The Kernels did score twice more to make it a close game. In the sixth inning, Gabe Jacobo led off by reaching on an error by third baseman Spina. Brooks singled to right, with Jacobo getting to third, and Brooks to second on the throw. Castillo hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Jacobo. One out later, Bailey doubled to center to score Brooks. Anel De Los Santos then hit a single back to the pitcher. The Cougars would bring in A.J. Huttenlocker to replace starter Anvioris Ramirez. Huttenlocker got Darwin Perez to pop up to the catcher to end the inning.

The final two innings got interesting. In the eighth inning, Brooks led off with a wlak. Huttenlocker would be able to strand him at first after a pop up and two strikeouts. In the ninth Justin Murray came in, After two strikeouts, Tyson Auer walked. Alexi Amarista then singled to center. Winning run on first with two outs. Gabe Jacobo would fly to center to end the game.

Tomorrow at Cedar Rapids @ 6:35
Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier (2-4, 5.33) vs Buddy Boshers (0-0, 10.80)