Nose: broken. Teeth: broken.
The Anchorage Glacier Pilots' winning streak: intact.
Jon Dyson's RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday lifted the Pilots to a stirring 4-3 Alaska Baseball League win over the Mat-Su Miners at Mulcahy Stadium. Anchorage won its fourth straight game and third in three nights against the Miners.
The Pilots (19-19 overall, 16-15 ABL) must be feeling good about themselves. All of them, that is, but Adam Simon.
Simon, a freshman pitcher/outfielder from UCLA, was knocked unconscious for a brief time during batting practice. He was shagging fly balls in the outfield when a ball tipped off his glove and smashed into his lip, below the nose.
Pilots manager Kris Didion said Simon lost his two front teeth and was knocked out for a few minutes. Simon, who according to Didion was responsive when he left the field, was taken by ambulance to Alaska Regional Hospital for tests and treatment but returned to watch the second half of the game from the Pilots dugout.
In the sixth inning, Pilots officials announced Simon broke his nose and will soon undergo two root canals to reattach his teeth. He is expected to be out of the lineup for about a week.
The promising news on Simon's health might have inspired the Pilots.
Mat-Su (16-20, 12-17) scored a single run in the top of the first inning and added two more in the fourth, highlighted by second baseman Joey Hooft's RBI triple. The Miners carried a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning.
Anchorage left fielder John Bowker lined his second home run of the summer over the right-field wall with one out in the bottom of the sixth. The laser was the Pilots' fifth hit off Mat-Su starter Byran Beck, who allowed two earned runs in six innings.
Bowker tied the game 3-3 with an RBI double in the eighth.
Anchorage starter Hector Amrbiz left after allowing two earned runs and throwing a whopping 100 pitches in four innings. Josh Wilson followed with two scoreless innings of relief and Travis Ingle worked two innings before running into trouble. Andy Shipman replaced Ingle with two Miners on and two outs in the top of the ninth inning. He loaded the bases with a walk before snagging Anthony Isabella's comebacker and throwing to first to get out of the jam.
Mat-Su left the bases loaded in the seventh too.
Dyson's ninth-inning heroics came after Dustin Realini led off with a sharp single to center field. Realini was replaced by pinch-runner Mathew Jakubov.
Jordan Szabo bunted Jakubov to second, and pinch-hitter Jon Higashi drew an intentional walk by Mat-Su reliever Ryan Heil. Dyson stepped into Heil's 2-1 pitch and smoked the ball to center. Miners outfielder Jeff Butts' throw was on line, but Jakubov stepped on the plate as catcher Matt Eichel caught the ball.
Anchorage remains three games behind the first-place Fairbanks Goldpanners with three league games remaining. Mat-Su dropped its seventh in a row.
The teams complete their four-game series this afternoon at Mulcahy.
Daily News reporter Matt Nevala can be reached at mnevala@adn.com.
Homer lifts Panners
Aaron Mathews smacked a two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday, giving the Fairbanks Goldpanners a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Anchorage Bucs.
Mathew's blast, off Bucs starter Ryan Weems, hit the top of the left field-fence and bounced over to erase the Bucs' 5-4 lead.
The victory, their third straight and fifth in six games, solidified the Goldpanners' lead in the Alaska Baseball League.
Oilers beat AIA ace
The Peninsula Oilers handed Athletes in Action ace Wes Letson his first defeat of the summer, chasing the starting pitcher in the eighth inning en route to a 3-1 win in Kenai.
The game was tied 1-1 going into the eighth. The Oilers broke the tie when a pair of errors scored Joe Holland, who had doubled, and put runners on first and second. A single by Josh Lex chased Letson, and reliever Jeff Brown gave up an RBI single to Ben Fritz to make it a two-run game.
ABL STANDINGS
Alaska Baseball League
W L Pct. GB Overall
Goldpanners 18 11 .621 -- 26-14
Oilers 15 12 .556 2 21-17
AIA 13 11 .542 21/2 17-12
Glacier Pilots 16 15 .516 3 19-19
Miners 12 17 .414 6 16-20
Bucs 10 18 .357 71/2 14-19
RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Friday's Results Winning Pitcher Losing Pitcher
Pilots 4, Miners 2 Rivas (3-3) Kolberg (4-3)
Panners 13, Bucs 6 Welch (3-1) Timm (1-2)
Oilers 8, AIA 1 Hall (2-0) Broadway
Saturday's Results Winning Pitcher Losing Pitcher
Panners 6, Bucs 5 Andrade (5-2) Weems (1-1)
Pilots 4, Miners 3 Shipman (4-1) Heil (2-2)
Oilers 3 AIA 1 Ekstrom (3-2) Letson (4-1)
Today's Games Location Time
AIA at Oilers Seymour Park 2 p.m.
Bucs at Panners Growden Park 2 p.m
Miners at Pilots Mulcahy Stadium 2 p.m
