5 pitchers lead Miners past Chugiak

PALMER — Some might not think much of a three-inning start. But Monday night, that’s exactly what the Mat-Su Miners needed.

Andrew McGee, who has been an ace out of the pen for the Miners recently, started and pitched three solid innings to help the Miners cruise to a 7-2 win over the Chugiak Chinooks at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

McGee, a Monmouth University lefty who is second in the Alaska Baseball League with 24 strikeouts, fanned a pair during three scoreless innings.

“He’s been huge, he always wants the ball,” Mat-Su field manager Chris Gordon said. “We couldn’t ask for anything more out of McGee.”

It was sort of a spot start for McGee, Gordon said. The Miners could have thrown right-hander Tyler Davis out on the mound, but opted to give Davis an extra day and use him during a key four-game road trip that starts tonight against the Alaska Goldpanners at Growden Park in Fairbanks. Instead of using Davis, the Miners opted for McGee and used a committee of arms in the win.

Five pitchers saw time in time on the mound for the Miners Monday.

“That was the plan from the start,” said Gordon, who added the Mat-Su coaching staff wanted to make sure McGee was fresh to come out of the pen in Fairbanks.

Mat-Su’s five pitchers were helped out by the Miners offense, which produced 14 hits and seven runs.

Clint Freeman continued his tear, going 3 for 5 at the plate. The East Tennessee State product raised his batting average to a team-high .373. Infielder Tino Lipson was also 3 for 5, and scored two runs. Bobby Boyd and Bob Arens finished with two hits each.

Erik Harbutz singled and scored on a Bill Cullen fielder’s choice in the third to give the Miners the 1-0 lead, and Mat-Su blew the game open in the fourth.

Arens and Lipson led off the fourth with consecutive singles and Boyd doubled to clear the bases. Later in the inning, Boyd scored to give the Miners the 4-0 lead.

The Miners continued their tear on the base paths, stealing five bases. Lipson finished with a pair of stolen bases. The Chinooks also finished with six errors in the game.

“Our speed created a lot of those errors,” Gordon said.

The Miners remain in last place of the league after the win, but did improve to 9-15. The Miners are 4-4 during the month of July, compared to 5-11 in June, and 5-5 during their last 10 games.

The Miners start a key road stretch tonight at 7 p.m. at Growden Park. Mat-Su meets the Panners in a doubleheader on Wednesday and caps the series Thursday at 5 p.m.

The Miners were 3-1 against the Goldpanners last week at Hermon Brothers. Mat-Su’s next home game is July 16 at 6 p.m. against the Chinooks.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.