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Peninsula Oilers pitcher Cody Kendall was surprised with how long he remained in the game Tuesday night against the Anchorage Bucs.

His 7 2/3-inning performance didn't shock him because Oilers manager Jeff Walker left him in that long.

Rather, simply put, it was because he hasn't lasted that long since high school.

He sure picked the perfect time to come through, though.

Kendall's strong outing and the Oilers timely hitting propelled them to their fifth straight win, a 2-1 triumph over the Bucs at Coral Seymour Memorial Park that helped Peninsula work its way back .500 in the league after starting out 1-5.

"You can go that long when you maximize your pitch count and let them put the ball in play and trust your defense and let them work," Peninsula manager Jeff Walker said of Kendall. "He competed and came out and threw strikes. By far his best performance of the season."

And it came when the Oilers needed it most, as they opened the ABL season with a dismal road trip, dropping five of six games against the Anchorage Bucs and Glacier Pilots. After a 2-0 loss to the Pilots on Thursday -- coincidentally the last time Kendall took the hill, although that time for six innings of relief on his actual day to start -- Peninsula hasn't lost since. And regardless of tonight's outcome in the third and final game of this three-game set with the Bucs, the Oilers have taken their second consecutive series.

"We're not breaking out the pom-poms yet," Walker joked. "It's nice and we've taken the series with them. But it's still just one game of 45."

Kendall, a right-handed freshman from Fresno State University, allowed just three hits and one walk over 7 2/3 innings of work, six of which were utterly sensational, and only got stronger as the game progressed.

He did suffer a scare in the first, though, when Jason Martinson drove a 2-2 curveball into the left-center gap, allowing Michael Hur, who reached first on an error, to scurry around the bases. But right-fielder Kawika Emsley-Pai jump-started a rapid relay to second baseman Ryan Fisher, who one-hopped the ball to catcher Jake Johnson, easily nailing Hur at the plate.

That not only gave Kendall a boost, but it proved pivotal in the end.

"That was a big relief because I said, 'Oh, that's a good hit right there,' but then backing up I was like, 'Oh, he's going to be out,'" Kendall said. "That was a good throw.

"It gave me more confidence because then I could just trust my defense and make them make the plays."

With his curveball stifling Anchorage hitters all evening, Kendall retired 15 of the first 17 batters he faced, including 11 in a row, until allowing a bunt single to nine-hole hitter Brian Bello with one out in the sixth. His defense again came through when he needed it most, as Zach Vincej flew out to center and Bello was then gunned down by catcher Johnson trying to swipe second.

Owning a 1-0 lead and requiring merely seven pitches to work through a 1-2-3 fifth inning, Kendall, who struck out three, amazingly needed just six pitches to get through the sixth and an amazing five to retire the side in the seventh.

"Basically I was just pitching to contact and the defense did their job. They were crushing the ball right at them but the defense made plays," said Kendall, who recorded 11 fly-outs and seven ground-outs. "I was just pitching to contact. That's what you've got to do in this league."

After benefiting from a sensational diving stop at third by Joe Kohan, who rose to his feet and fired to first in time to catch Coley Crank, Kendall issued his first and only walk of the game to Martinson, who took second on a passed ball. Kendall was then just one out away from making it eight shutout innings when he got Brian McConkey to pop out, but Austin Barnes ended his night with an RBI single to left to cut the deficit in half at 2-1, the Oilers second run coming an inning earlier.

Mike Ratigan then trotted in from the right-field bullpen and used only three pitches to whiff Bello and Josh Corrales retired the side in the ninth, two on strikeouts, to pick up his fourth save and preserve the win for Kendall.

"They both did their jobs," Walker said. "Ratigan came in and retired the first batter he faced, which is what your supposed to do when you come out of the pen.

"Corrales, he came in and did his job -- three up, three down."

One day after pounding out a season-high 13 hits in a dominating 7-1 win over the Bucs, the Oilers had difficulty reaching base against Anchorage starter and loser Jake Borup on Tuesday.

After walking the first two Oilers he saw, the 6-foot-5 righty sat down 10 straight batters, nearly escaping the fourth with the cruise control flipped on.

Jonathan Kaskow, however, commenced a crucial two-out rally with a single up the middle and Mark Tracy, who is officially in a groove after going 3-for-4 on Monday and socking a game-winning homer on Saturday, sent a 1-2 Borup offering to the deepest part of the park in center field, allowing Kaskow to walk home with the game's first run.

"Two-out hits, two-out runs are a big momentum swing," said Walker, adding it was Kaskow who walked ahead of Tracy's two-out, two-run blast in the opening game of a doubleheader sweep Saturday. "They definitely deflate an opponent."

That was the lone hiccup in Borup's outing, as he allowed just those three hits with three walks over six sharp innings.

Peninsula tacked on an insurance run in the seventh off reliever Chris Matulis when Fisher began the frame with a walk, stole second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Johnson.

"Those are little things that we talk about that make the difference in the game," Walker said. "Today we did those little things right."

Tuesday

Oilers 2, Bucs 1

Bucs AB R H BI Oilers AB R H BI

Vincej ss 4 0 0 0 Kykndl cf 3 0 1 0

Young 2b 4 0 0 0 Em-Pai rf 2 0 0 0

Klsgrd rf 4 0 0 0 Wllsn lf 4 0 0 0

Hur lf 3 0 0 0 Kaskw 1b 4 1 1 0

Crank dh 2 0 0 0 Tracy dh 4 0 1 1

Sibley ph 1 0 0 0 Fsher 2b 2 1 1 0

Mrtnsn 3b 2 1 1 0 Jhnsn c 2 0 0 1

McCnky 1b 3 0 0 0 Bsyhd ss 3 0 1 0

Brnes c 3 0 1 1 Kohan 3b 3 0 0 0

Bello cf 3 0 1 0 ------ -- -- -- --

Totals 29 1 3 1 Totals 27 2 5 2

Anchorage 000 000 010 --1

Peninsula 000 100 10x --2

E -- Fisher. LOB -- Bucs 2, Oilers 6. 2B -- Martinson, Tracy. SF -- Johnson. SB -- Emsley-Pai, Fisher 2. CS -- Kuykendall, Bello.

IP H R ER BB SO

Bucs

Borup, L 6 3 1 1 3 1

Matulis 2 2 1 1 1 1

Oilers

Kendall, W 7 2/3 3 1 1 1 3

Ratigan 1/3 0 0 0 0 1

Corrales, S 1 0 0 0 0 2