The Peninsula Oilers defeated the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks 5-2 in Alaska Baseball League play Monday at Coral Seymour Memorial Ballpark before the second half of the doubleheader was canceled due to rain.
With the four-game sweep of the Chinooks, the Oilers remained red hot at home. Peninsula has now won 11 of its 14 home contests.
That’s the main reason the Oilers have now crept within two games of the Anchorage Bucs at the top of the league standings. The Bucs are 17-8, while the Oilers are 16-11.
The Mat-Su Miners are in third at 13-13, the Anchorage Glacier Pilots are in fourth at 11-16 and the Chinooks are last at 8-17.
Peninsula now faces a crucial seven-game road trip, starting with a matchup with the Bucs at 6 p.m. Thursday at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.
The Oilers return home July 27 through July 31 for five games with the Pilots. All games are at 6 p.m., except on Sunday, July 28, at 2 p.m.
Chugiak-Eagle River jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Peninsula came back with four runs in the bottom of the first. Both teams would score one in the fourth.
Eddie Leon went six innings for the Oilers for the win, giving up two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out two.
Emerson Fleck pitched a scoreless and hitless seventh inning for Peninsula, walking one and striking out two.
The Oilers grabbed their four runs in the first inning thanks to a Max Roffwarg single that scored Colin Robson and Cole Dawson, and a Zakary Farris single that scored Cody New and Roffwarg.
In the fourth, Roffwarg had a sacrifice fly to score Dawson.
Robson finished 2 for 2 for the Oilers, while New was 2 for 3.
Troy Lopez took the loss for the Chinooks, giving up five runs on eight hits in 3 1-3 innings. Adyn Collins had 2 2-3 innings of hitless and scoreless relief for the Chinooks.
Louis Zalaica was 2 for 4 for Chugiak-Eagle River.
