The Peninsula Oilers squandered a second-straight game with a multi-run lead Friday night at Hermon Brothers Field. A night after a 6-2 loss to the Anchorage Bucs at Mulcahy Stadium, the Oilers fell 5-2 to the Mat-Su Miners in Palmer.
The Peninsula Oilers squandered a second-straight game with a multi-run lead Friday night at Hermon Brothers Field.
The Oilers (1-2) led through three innings before the Miners (3-1) outscored the Oilers 5-0 through the final five innings of play.
The Oilers opened the scoring in the second inning against Miners left-hander Ryan Schlotzhauer on a sacrifice fly from Michael Elko. The Oilers doubled their lead in the top of the third inning when Brett Grupe singled in Ben Griffin off reliever Ethan Lyke.
Following three scoreless innings from Oilers starter Ty Correa, the Miners pounced on Oilers reliever Aiden Gonzalez for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-2 lead.
Gonzalez struck out the first two batters he faced before the Miners rattled off three straight hits paired with three walks against the right-hander.
Despite the Oilers loading the bases four times, the Miners relievers held the Oilers lineup in check.
The Oilers as a team were 2-14 with runners in scoring position, while leaving a total of 12 men on base. The Miners were 2-3 at the plate, leaving six on base.
With a bases loaded and two outs rally percolating in the top of the 9th, Miners reliever Larry Westall got Grupe to ground into a fielder’s choice to Mat-Su third baseman Braydon Rogers to end the game 5-2.
With the win, the Miners take an early 1-0 regular season series lead on the Oilers in a 10-game regular season slate. Alaska Baseball League Postseason positioning is determined on regular season records. In the event of tie-breakers, head-to-head matchups are taken into consideration.
The Oilers continue their 10-game roadtrip to begin the ABL season at Lee Jordan Field against the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks on Saturday at 6 pm. Listen to coverage on KSRM 920AM, 92.5FM and radiokenai.com.
