IN COMMAND

PALMER — Mat-Su Miners head coach Russell Raley estimates 80 percent of the pitches thrown by his starter, Joe Bircher, were fastballs Saturday night. As much success Bircher was having, the Mat-Su lefty didn’t really need another pitch.

Bircher allowed only two hits through seven shutout innings and led the Miners to a 7-0 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Hermon Brothers Field.

“I thought he had good command,” Raley said of the lefty. “That’s the main thing. If you’ve got good command of your fastball, you’ve got a chance to have a good night.”

On Saturday, Bircher was more than good. The Bradley University product fanned nine hitters and walked only two. He improved to 4-0 with the victory, and lowered his earned run average to an impressive 0.87.

“Bircher’s really been the man,” said Pablo Bermudez, who collected two of Mat-Su’s 13 hits in the victory. “He’s our ace right now.”

Bircher struck out at least two batters in an inning three times. Two of those three innings were the first and last frames he pitched. Bircher fanned the first two hitters he faced in the top of the first inning, and the first two Pilots during the seventh.

“He’s going to compete until they pull him out of the game,” Bermudez said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

With Bircher cruising on the mound, the Miners gave their starter plenty of run support. Mat-Su finished in double digits in hits for the seventh straight game, and the Miners improved to 18-7 with their sixth straight victory. Bermudez was one of three Miners to have multiple hits in the win, and every Mat-Su starter had at least one hit against the Pilots.

“Right now it seems like everybody’s clicking,” Bermudez said. “We’re gong on all cylinders. It’s nice you can trust the guy in front of you and behind you.”

The Miners gave Bircher early run support with a pair in the bottom of the first. Tyler Ruch doubled and scored on an Andy Mee ground out. Later in the inning Nick DeBiasse doubled and scored on a Bermudez single.

The Miners had their biggest inning in the fourth, scoring three times to push their lead to 5-0. Two of those runs came after a passed ball early in the inning.

Kevin Whitehead singled and scored on a Ruch sacrifice fly to give the Miners the 3-0, and with Mee at the plate, Mat-Su capitalized on a pair of Anchorage mistakes.

Matt Wessinger scored from third after a ball got passed Anchorage catcher Jimmie Pharr.

As Wessinger slid into home, Pharr made a throw to the plate, but the throw got away, allowing Bret Schwartz to score from second.

“That’s all about guys hustling, anticipating plays on the base paths,” Raley said. “We ask them to play hard like they always do. On that play you’ve got Bret Schwartz running hard. There was no hesitation there.”

The Miners cap a three-game set against the Pilots today at 2 p.m. at Hermon Brothers Field.

Miners 8, Pilots 2

PALMER — Six different Miners drove in a run and Kirk Jewasko pitched six scoreless innings of relief as Mat-Su grabbed an 8-2 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on Friday.

Andy Mee led the Miners at the plate, collecting three of the Miners’ 14 hits. Bret Schwartz, Nick DeBiasse and Wes Thigpen had two hits each. Jewasko fanned five, walked one and allowed two innings in six innings to earn the win on the mound.

Remaining home games start early

All remaining home night games will start at 6 p.m., starting with a contest against the Athletes in Action Fire Wednesday. After today’s matinee against the Pilots, there are only seven remaining home games. Two of those games come during a doubleheader against the Alaska Goldpanners on July 30.