Cook sat the Boomers down in order in the top of the first and then Joliet immediately scored five runs in the bottom of the frame. Carson Maxwell connected on a grand slam to break the game open early. Alec Craig ended Cole’s perfect game with a double over the third base bag leading off the seventh and eventually scored the lone run in the contest. Cole retired the first 18 batters of the game.
Jumpei Akanuma suffered the loss, working 4.1 innings. Tyler Tomaka, Miguel Reyes and Juan Pichardo all appeared before Braxton Davidson came on for his second relief outing of the year, tossing a scoreless eighth. The Boomers struck out eight in the game.
Evansville was rained out on Saturday and will play a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Florence. The Boomers (53-42) hold a one-game lead in the race for home field in the wild card game and need a win or one Evansville loss to host the contest on Tuesday night. Luis Perez (1-0, 6.48) will take the ball in the regular season finale. Visit www.boomersbaseball.com for all the details.