Game 38: Miners at Bucs, 7:00 p.m.

Tonight, the Mat-Su Miners will look to continue their late-season resurgence and stay in the ABL pennant chase when they visit the Anchorage Bucs. The Miners come into the game winners of five of their last seven, and sit 2.5 games behind the first-place Peninsula Oilers. The Miners have just four games remaining in the ABL in 2011, with all four of them being against the Bucs. The Miners now sit in second-place in the ABL, and a game up on the third-place Bucs. The Miners hold a 4-1 edge on the season-series over the Bucs.

The Miners last played on Tuesday night, using five different pitchers to defeat the Peninsula Oilers 5-2. David Gibson (Jr./Bluefield) and Ben Graff (Fr./San Francisco) each pitched two scoreless frames to begin the game. In the fifth, with the Miners leading it 1-0, Colin Cloud (Anchorage, AK) made his first appearance of the season. Cloud sat down the Oilers 2-3-4 hitters, and finished the inning by striking out Oilers first-baseman Troy Channing (Jr./St. Mary's).

The Oilers tied in the sixth, but it didn't stay that way very long. With the bases loaded, Oilers starter Jordan Mills (Fr./St. Mary's) plunked the Miners Adam Martin (Fr./Western Carolina), to bring home Ryan Ford (So./MTSU) to break the tie. A batter later, Michael Gerlach (So./Cabrillo) singled down the third-base line to score Stephen Branca (Jr./Tennessee Wesleyan) and Wesley Jones (Jr./Milligan). The hit gave Gerlach a three-RBI night, and put the Miners up 4-1.

The Miners took a 5-1 lead into the ninth, when the Oilers were able to score and bring the tying run to the plate. Mark Anderson (So./BYU), who came on to pitch the inning, forced a fly out to end the game, and gave the Miners their third victory over the Oilers this season.

Tonight, the Miners will again try and inch closer towards first-place when they give left-hander Ben Graff his second start of the season. Graff, who has not made a start since the exhibition season, comes into the game with a 1-3 record in ABL play, and an earned run average of 1.77. Tuesday, Graff worked the third and fourth innings, and scattered two hits, two walks, and didn't allow a run. The Miners are expected to again try to use several different arms, in an effort to save pitching for the remaining games of the regular season. The Miners are down to just eight available arms entering tonight's game.

Alaska Baseball League Standings (W-L-GB)

1. Oilers 19-12 --
2. Miners 17-15 2.5
3. Bucs 16-16 3.5
4. Pilots 17-18 4
5. Fire 12-20 7.5

Elsewhere in the ABL tonight, the Fire meet the Oilers in game two of their five game series. The first-pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Coral Seymour Park in Kenai.

Tonight's Game: Miners (17-15) at Bucs (16-16)
First-pitch: 7:00 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.
Media: Matt Dudas and Michael Broskowski have the call, beginning at 6:50 p.m. with the Mat-Su Miners Pre-Game Show. Fans can listen to the game worldwide on www.matsuminers.org.
Pre-Game Guest: Matt Dudas talks with Miners pitcher Mark Anderson.
Next-up: The Miners return home for a 6:00 p.m. contest with the Bucs on Friday.

-Matt Dudas