The Kane County Cougars continue to maintain a first-place position in the Midwest League’s Western Division with a second half record of 37-14.

After a Wednesday loss to the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Cougars must win 11 of their 19 remaining games to break the franchise record for most wins in one half of a season, set by the 2001 Cougars which went 47-21 in the first half on their way toward winning the MWL championship.

The Cougars are now 73-46 and trail Quad Cities for the best overall record in the league. The Cougars have a magic number of six in order to clinch a postseason spot. The team leads Peoria by five games for the Western Division second half championship.

This marks the first time since 2009-10 that the Cougars have won 70 or more games in consecutive seasons. Not since 2003-04 have the Cougars won 80 or more games in consecutive seasons. The Cougars lead the league with a .275 team batting average and is second with a 2.95 team ERA.

A trio of Cougars are among the top 10 league hitters in batting average: Victor Reyes (.308, T-4th), Marty Herum (.308, T-4th) and Colin Bray (.299, T-9th). The Cougars also boast three pitchers in the league’s top 10 in ERA: Brad Keller (2.47, 2nd), Ethan Elias (2.87, 9th) and Markus Solbach (2.88, 10th), who was recently promoted to Class-A Advanced Visalia.

Herum is second in the league with 135 hits and nine hits away from entering the franchise’s single-season top 10 list. Elias became the 29th pitcher in franchise history to reach the 10-win mark after winning on Aug. 13, with Nick Baker becoming the 30th pitcher to record 10 wins the following evening. This is the first time since 2007 that two Cougars pitchers have each won 10 or more games in a single season (Trevor Cahill and James Heuser). Zac Curtis’ save on Aug. 16 was his 28th of the season, breaking the franchise record that was previously held by Bryan Moore (’00 Cougar).  Curtis is tied with Reading pitcher Stephen Shackleford for the overall Minor League Baseball lead.

Cougars Alumni Notes

Kane County Cougars “graduates” are among the best in Big Leagues and among the top prospects in the minors. Here’s are some notes about alumni we’ve seen play right here in Kane County, IL:

• Seattle outfielder Nelson Cruz (’03) is first in the Major Leagues with 36 home runs and eighth with a .319 batting average.
• San Francisco pitcher Santiago Casilla (’03-’04) and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Huston Street (’04) have 29 saves.
• Detroit infielder Miguel Cabrera (’01) returned from the disabled list on Aug. 14 after missing more than a month of the season with a calf injury.
• Toronto infielder Cliff Pennington (’05) was recently traded from Arizona in exchange for current Cougars infielder Dawel Lugo.
• Cubs catcher Kyle Schwarber (’14) is batting .310 with 9 home runs and 30 RBI.
• Pittsburgh pitcher Joe Blanton (’03) is 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA since being traded from Kansas City.
• Toronto pitcher Bo Schultz (’10) has a 2.18 ERA in 22 relief appearances while Cleveland pitcher Ryan Webb (’05) has a 2.45 ERA in 30 relief appearances.

Triple-A (Stats Through Aug. 18)

• Outfielder Jeremy Barfield (’09) is batting .329 in 24 games at Triple-A Albuquerque (Colorado).
• Outfielder Brett Eibner (’11) is batting .304 with 18 home runs and 69 RBI at Triple-A Omaha (Kansas City) and teammate Scott Alexander (12) has a 2.56 ERA in 37 relief appearances.
• Pitcher Andrew Bailey (’07) has made five relief appearances in a rehab stint for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (New York Yankees).
• Pitcher Pierce Johnson (’13-’14) is 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA in 12 starts at Double-A Tennessee (Cubs) while teammate Starling Peralta (’13) has a 2.23 ERA in 33 relief appearances.
• Pitcher Andrew Triggs (’12) has a 1.03 ERA in 35 outings with Double-A Bowie (Baltimore).
• Infielder Chesny Young (’14) is batting .335 in 83 games at Class-A Advanced Myrtle Beach (Cubs). Teammate Paul Blackburn (’14) has a 2.99 ERA in 16 starts and fellow starter Jonathan Martinez (’14) has a 2.83 ERA in 19 starts. Teammate Michael Heesch (’13-’14) has a 2.09 ERA in 28 appearances.