Anchorage Daily News

When you can throw a baseball 97 miles per hour, getting hitters out can be simple -- as long as you can throw with accuracy.

But like the Charlie Sheen character in the movie "Major League," University of Oklahoma junior-to-be Garrett Richards came to the Mat-Su Miners as a pitcher who could throw heat but was a little wild.

Turns out, Richards' problem was largely a matter of mechanics. Once a few kinks in his delivery were worked out, Richards started racking up strikeouts.

The improved Richards was on display Friday in a 7-0 Alaska Baseball League win against the Athletes in Action Fire at Hermon Brothers Field.

Richards overpowered the Fire. He finished with seven strikeouts and one walk in six shutout innings. The two hits he allowed were a pair of grounders that got through, and he used just 63 pitches. After allowing two runners in the third inning, he retired nine straight and struck out the side in the fourth.

It was Richards' second straight effective start. He struck out three and allowed one run in his first ABL victory, a 5-3 win over the Peninsula Oilers July 18 at the ABL/Major League Scout Showcase at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Contrast those two performances to his first two starts, which included a 5.93 ERA.

In his first start, against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on July 11, Richards gave up seven runs in the first inning.

Perhaps he was suffering the lingering effects of a rough spring at Oklahoma -- 6.97 ERA in 20 2/3 innings. Batters hit .349 against him.

"He ... got put through the wringer a bit in Oklahoma," said Miners pitching coach Ryan Heil. "They asked a lot of him early, and he kind of got away from some of the fundamental stuff. He's been working to get it back to where he knows he needs to be mechanically.

"He's worked real hard, and he's cleaned a lot of stuff up mechanically," he said.

Now he's seeing results.

"I'm just more comfortable on the mound," said Richards, who was the final pitcher in Oklahoma's season-ending loss to Arizona State in the NCAA tournament. He didn't arrive for the Miners until mid-July.

"Coach Heil has been working with me a lot. I'm getting back into the starting mentality. Everything is kind of coming together."

Especially Richards' fastball. Last week, with major league scouts watching, Richards' fastball ranged from 90 to 98 mph, Heil said.

That kind of speed makes it easier to set up and throw other pitches, Richards said, because hitters are keyed up for the fastball.

Mix in the change or Richards' big curve ball, and hitters are consistently fooled.

Richards has also developed a slider the past two weeks, and he used that pitch effectively against AIA.

Heil said the most important thing for Richards is simply to trust his stuff.

"That and not being afraid of contact," Heil said. "Just challenging guys and trusting what he's doing."

Troy Scott hit a two-out bloop single to score a run in the third, part of a three-run rally that staked Mat-Su to a 4-0 lead in the first game.

Scott, a University of Washington freshman, also hit a two-run double in the fourth that put the Miners up 7-0.

Mat-Su took advantage of two AIA errors at third base to score two unearned runs. The Miners were also aggressive on the base paths with six stolen bases.

The win gave Mat-Su a sweep of AIA. In the earlier game, which was continued from the seventh inning, picking up a rain-delayed game from last week, Mat-Su won 3-2.

Kyle Jensen drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth.

While those victories were important, the Miners' chances of repeating as ABL champs took a serious hit in Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots.

The ABL-leading Pilots scored three runs in the eighth and ninth innings to beat Mat-Su for the sixth-straight time. The Pilots took the season series 6-1.

More importantly, the loss dropped Mat-Su to third place behind the Oilers in league standings, 4½ games out of first.

The ABL regular season ends this week.

On Saturday, Kyle Jensen hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 14th inning as Mat-Su defeated the Anchorage Bucs 5-4. The game was continued from July 15, when it was suspended due to darkness.

Find Ron Wilmot online at adn.com/contact/rwilmot or call 352-6712.

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