Bees rally past Cougars in opener

David Lough, Johnny Giavotella and Jason Taylor hit RBI singles to spark a go-ahead four-run rally in the eighth inning as the Burlington Bees overcame the visiting Kane County Cougars, 5-3, in Wednesday's playoff opener.

Heading into the eighth inning, the Bees trailed, 2-1, before rallying with consecutive RBIs singles to take the lead. Taylor, who homered in the seventh, gave the Bees a 4-2 lead with an RBI single. Nick Van Stratten's sacrifice fly capped the outburst.

Paul Raglione (1-0) hurled a scoreless eighth for the win after starter Daniel Gutierrez struck out six and allowed two runs on five hits over six innings for Burlington.

Chad Kerfoot (0-1) allowed three runs on two hits over 1 2/3 innings for the loss. Starter Carlos Hernandez held the Bees to only a pair of hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Adam Klein went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Cougars. Box score

In other MWL action:

Dayton Dragons 3, Lansing Lugnuts 1
Jeremy Horst tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Neftali Soto hit a two-run double in the sixth inning as the Dayton Dragons defeated the Lansing Lugnuts in their playoff opener. Box score

South Bend Silver Hawks 5, W. Michigan Whitecaps 3
Midwest League All-Star Sean Coughlin went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and Jarrod Parker struck out five over six frames as South Bend earned a win in its playoff opener against West Michigan. Box score

Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Clinton LumberKings 0
Esmerlin Jimenez struck out five and held the LumberKings to just two hits over seven innings and Andrew Romine drove in two runs as Cedar Rapids blanked Clinton. Box score