Mat-Su falls in gradual Anchorage comeback

PALMER — Mat-Su has been prone to scoring all of its runs in one inning, and that kind of stagnant play led to the Miners 8-4 home loss to the Anchorage Bucs on Saturday.

For the fourth time this season, the Miners did all of their damage during one frame, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Mat-Su is now 2-2 when that happens, beating the Oilers 5-2 on Friday, Jun. 9, losing to the same Oilers team 15-1 on Thursday, Jun. 15, shutting out the Chinooks 2-0 on Friday, Jun. 16, and falling to the Bucs 8-4 on Saturday, Jun. 17.

This inability to rally in multiple innings has weighed on the pitching staff that has allowed the fewest earned runs in the Alaska Baseball League at just 29 (the Anchorage Glacier Pilots have allowed the second-fewest with 33).

Although the routinely dominant set of arms powered through for the initial eight games of the regular season, the staff struggled through Saturday’s bout. Mat-Su lefty Ryan Schlotzhauer started with a pair of scoreless frames before allowing an unearned run in the second and an earned tally the following inning.

Right-hander Preston Chaudoin relieved him in the fifth allowing one run, but the sixth inning proved the most damaging.

Anchorage right fielder Cade Lacy boarded on a walk and swiped second base on a passed ball. The Phoenix College product broke for third, Mat-Su catcher Austin Machado let the ball slip by chucking it into left field, and Lacy jogged home to tie the game at 4-4.

Bucs second baseman Alex Pendegrast followed up with an R.B.I. knock that scored third baseman Jacob Rebrook. Designated hitter Zach Thomas ended Chaudoin’s afternoon with a base hit that scored shortstop Curtis Hebert elevating the lead to 6-4 Anchorage.

Mat-Su sidearm reliever Larry Westall filled in on the hill for the rest of the game. Like Schlotzhauer, Westall comes to the Miners out of the University of Incarnate Word in Texas. The two have said that they often are mistaken for each other because of their similar lean frames with Westall standing 6’4” and 185 lbs and Schlotzhauer imposing at 6’3” and 190 lbs.

Both pitchers finished with similar lines as the right-handed Westall also allowed a pair of runs. Both of those markers came thanks to a two-run blast from Lacy, who tied the game thanks to chaotic baserunning.

The bright side for the Miners came from third baseman Alex Thurston who entered Saturday’s affair with one hit in 15 at-bats and exited with a solid two-for-four showing.

Next, these two rematch while swapping locations. The M’s and Bucs deal with each other in back-to-back days with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Sunday, Jun. 18.