Miners break out the whoopin' stick

PALMER -- The temperate at Hermon Brothers Field was a bit chilly Tuesday night, but the bats of the Mat-Su Miners were rather hot.

The Miners torched the Peninsula Oilers for 10 early runs and cruised to a 10-3 win over the Kenai ballclub. The Miners improved to 9-5 overall and 5-2 in Alaska Baseball League play.

Jeff Butts went 3 for 4 at the plate, drove in two runs and scored two runs.

Butts notched the first home run of the season for the Miners. The Mississippi State product sent a ball over the right field wall in the eighth inning.

Mike Kelly went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs.

Mat-Su loaded the bases in the second inning and Kelly cleared the bags with one swing. Kelly doubled to the right center field gap to drive in the three runs.

Joey Hooft, in just his second game in a Ma-Su uniform, notched a pair of doubles and drove in a run.

The Miners recorded 10 hits in the contest, just a night after collecting 17 hits in a 7-4 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots.

With 27 hits in the last two games, the Miners are recovering from a dry spell at the plate. Prior to their two-game winning streak, the Miners had a stretch where they went 1-4 and struggled a bit at the plate.

"You go through spells," Mat-Su manager Kevin Edwards said. "If it is good, you ride it out as long as you can. If it is bad you reflect and go forward."

The Miners are getting key hits from players who have struggled early in the season.

Jase Turner went 1 for 2 in the home opener for Mat-Su on June 14, but was able to record just one hit in his next 24 at bats.

After sitting out a pair of games late last week, Turner has three hits in the last two contests.

Turner notched a pair of hits in the win over the Pilots and a key double to open Mat-Su's four-run second inning on Tuesday.

"He got an opportunity to sit and watch a couple days," Edwards said of Turner. "As a young player, you need that. Jase comes in early and works hard. It was just a matter of time."

"I have been working hard with the hitting coach, trying to shorten up on my swing as much as possible," Turner said. "I'm just going back to basics.

"Failure is a part of baseball," Turner added. "You need to learn how to react to failure. You can't give up."

Jason Snyder pitched eight scoreless innings for the Miners. The Mat-Su starter allowed just four hits, struck out four and walked only one Peninsula batter.

"Every inning for him is so important," Edwards said.

Snyder, a right-hander from Dixie State College, sat out the 2003 collegiate season.

His appearances with Mat-Su are his first on the mound in over a year.

Miner reliever David Johnson was tagged with a three-run Dusty Benko dinger in the ninth inning.

Peninsula starter Stephen Kahn had an early exit. Kahn, a 6-foot 2-inch right-hander, who was rumored to be packing a fastball that reached upwards of 98-miles per hour, was in obvious pain on the mound as he flirted with speeds in the mere mid-80s.

Kahn faced just seven batters and was pulled following Turner's double in the second inning.

Though the Miners were able to consistently hit off the Peninsula pitching, it was the Oilers' defensive blunders rather than earned runs that led to their demise.

Bensko booted a Hooft grounded in the first inning that allowed Matt Young to score and the Miners to take a 1-0 lead.

Oiler shortstop David Uribes committed a two-run error on a Ryan Beglin ground ball in the bottom of the fourth.

Random hits … Mat-Su pitcher Brian Bach played five innings of left field for the Miners. The short-handed Miners were forced to place their talented pitcher in left field after starter Matt Young turned an ankle running out a grounder in the third inning … Miner shortstop Josh Mader sat out Tuesday's game. Mader has a slight hamstring pull … Both Mader and Young are day-to-day …. With Mader out and Hooft now on the squad, Kelly moved over to shortstop … Kelly has been the true utility player for Mat-Su. The Monmouth University prospect has played every position on the infield and has three saves on the mound … The Miners handed the Anchorage Glacier Pilots their first ABL loss on Monday … Read about the Miners' 11-3 win over the Peninsula Oilers on Sunday.