Miners edge Oilers in Kenai

The Mat-Su Miners started their five-day stay in Kenai with a win. Mat-Su edged the Peninsula Oilers 3-2 at Coral Seymour Park Thursday night.

Rhett McCaffety earned the win on the mound for the Miners. The lefty scattered six hits and two earned runs over six innings, while fanning four and walking three. Kole Tauzin pitched two innings of relief and earned the six-out save, his third of the summer.

Nick Cirelli drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth. Josh Paino scored on the Cirelli single to give the Miners the 3-2 lead.

Alex Vergara scored on a Steven Lancia single to give the Miners a 1-0 lead in the second. Carter Young scored on an Oilers error in the third to push the Miners to a 2-0 advantage.

Mat-Su improved to an Alaska Baseball League best 15-6 with the win.

The Miners will be in Kenai through July 4. It’s part of a season-long nine-game road trip.

Mat-Su also bounced back from a rare loss on Wednesday. The Anchorage Bucs scored a 5-4 walk-off win over the Miners at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Cirelli drove in two runs in the loss. Piano and Vergara had three hits each. Casey Sunseri scored twice.

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