Game Summary
For Father's Day, in addition to a card I got my dad tickets to head down Kirk Road to catch the Cubs' Class-A affiliate in action. The Cougars (31-42) started off very sloppy in allowing four stolen bases and also committing two errors, a passed ball, and three wild pitches all before the end of the 4th inning as the Snappers (48-29) built a 6-0 lead on all those mistakes. Slowly the Cougars came back from that defecit, posting a four-run 7th to get back to within a single run, then tied it in the 8th. Neither team scored in the 9th, and the Cougars won in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 10th (see below).
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| Starter Tayler Scott of the Cougars in the 1st. |
Pitchers of Record
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| Albert Almora batting in the 1st. |
L: Chris Lamb (1-2): 2+ IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, 2 K. Pitched well other than in the 8th when he blew the save on a clutch 2-out hit. He went scoreless in the 9th, then faced all of two batters in the 10th when the Cougars walked off.
Key Stats
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| Rock Shoulders celebrates his homer. |
- Albert Almora (KC): 3-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI. The Cubs' 2012 first round pick definitely lived up to the hype tonight and improved his average this year to .366. After starting the game 0-2, he doubled to center in the 5th and came around to score thanks to an error and a sacrifice fly. In the 7th he singled home a run to make it 7-3 and would later score. He then tied the game in the 8th with a grounder to short that wasn't handled cleanly. Obviously it's still early in his career, but he showed flashes of what could make for exciting baseball at Clark and Addison in a few years.
- Rock Shoulders (KC): 1-4, HR (15), R, 3 RBI. I don't really remember a lot of power hitters coming through Kane County (not to say there haven't been), but this man definitely has some. He struck out his first couple times out before walking in the 6th. Then with two on and two out in the 7th he absolutely crushed one to the decks out in right field to pull the Cougars within a run. And that name... one of the best in all of sports.
- Oliver Zapata (KC) 3-4, 3B, 3 R. Zapata was the catalyst for this team out of the 9-spot in the order. He tripled leading off the 7th and scored on Almora's single. He hit a 1-out single in the 8th, stole second, advanced to third on a Bijan Rademacher groundout, then scored on Almora'a second straight single to tie the game. And boy, did he ever take advantage of mistakes in extras. He led off the bottom of the 10th for Kane County with a bunt right in front of home plate. He went fast enough to beat the throw to first for a single... only the throw from the catcher was off target. Zapata advanced to second and rounded towards third... and the right fielder's throw was off, allowing Zapata to advance to third with nobody out on a pair of errors. Rademacher didn't need to bat, as Lamb uncorked a wild pitch and Zapata raced home with the winning run. It was incredible.
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| The Cougars mob Oliver Zapata. |
Final Thoughts
This was my first time getting back to Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in at least a couple years after spending a number of summer nights here growing up. When you live a mere 15-20 minutes away from the ballpark, it's a great alternative to driving in towards the city. We often sat in the lawn seats out in left field, but I got a couple box seats 4 rows back from the Cougars dugout for my dad for Father's Day, and I think he enjoyed getting out of the house for a few hours this evening. It's been a rough season for Kane County, but there are some talented young players on this squad that could be making an impact on the North Side down the line. And ultimately, despite 8 errors between the two teams, this was an incredibly entertaining game. You can't ask for more than that.
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