Daytona and Kane County are going in opposite directions. Exactly the opposite directions that both teams went last year.
Last season, the Kane County Cougars went 55-80 and the Daytona Cubs went 75-51 and won the Florida State League Championship.
To start this season, the Cougars are 9-3 and Daytona is 2-10.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs were too slow for the New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins), 8-4.
Carlos Pimentel has alternated great and lousy starts so far this season and since he was great last time out, you can guess what happened tonight. Pimentel got the loss after he allowed seven runs on six hits over five innings. Two of those hits were home runs. Pimentel walked five and struck out five.
Former Cub Brian Bogusevic was 3 for 5 with a double in this game and former Cubs farmhand Justin Bour was 2 for 5 with a home run.
First baseman Chris Valaika was 2 for 3 with a double. He was also hit by a pitch. Valaika scored once run.
Shortstop Logan Watkins went 1 for 3 with a walk and a two-run single. He also scored one run.
Tennessee Smokies
Rained out. Doubleheader on Thursday.
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs lost for the eighth time in their last nine games, falling to the Dunedin Blue Jays, 10-3.
Can't sugarcoat this one. Starter Jose Rosario had a crappy game. He pitched 4.1 innings and allowed eight runs on seven hits. But hey, two of the runs were unearned Rosario walked six batters and struck out only two.
DH Rock Shoulders hit a solo home run in the ninth inning, his first of the season. Shoulders also doubled and scored in the seventh inning. He was 2 for 4.
Second baseman Tim Saunders was 3 for 4 with two doubles. Right fielder Pin-Chieh Chen was 2 for 4 with an RBI single in the 5th inning, scoring Bijan Rademacher.
Kane County Cougars
The Kane County Cougars swept a doubleheader from the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Rays), 2-0 and 1-0. The Cougars have now won six straight games.
In the first game, Jen-Ho Tseng shut down the Hot Rods for 5.1 innings. He did allow six hits, but a big reason that didn't turn into any runs is that Tseng didn't walk anyone. He struck out six.
Zack Godley pitched the final 1.2 innings for his second save. He allowed one hit but again, no walks. Godley had four strikeouts.
Catcher Ben Carhart was 1 for 2 with a double and a walk. Right fielder Yasiel Balaguert was 1 for 2 with a sac fly. He scored the first run of the game on an errant pickoff thrown.
In game two, Paul Blackburn was even better than Tseng. Blackburn allowed only one hit over six innings. He struck out six batters and walked only one.
Jose Arias pitched the seventh inning collected his first save of the year, but not without some extra effort. After striking out the first batter, he walked the second one, who promptly stole second base. He struck out the third batter, but a wild pitch put runners on first and third without only one out. But Arias struck out the final two batters to end the game. So yes, he pitched one inning and struck out four and walked one.
The only run scored in the third inning when shortstop Carlos Penalver doubled home center fielder Jacob Hannemann. Hanneman was 1 for 4 with a stolen base and Penalver was 1 for 3.