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The Peninsula Oilers found out just how quickly things can take a turn for the worse in the Alaska Baseball League. The Oilers can only hope things will take a turn for the better just as quickly.

The Anchorage Bucs swept a pair of games from the Oilers on Monday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai. The first game, a seven-inning makeup of a rainout earlier in the season, was a 4-1 loss. The second game, a nine-inning contest, was a 3-0 defeat.

It was only Friday night that the Oilers shut out the Anchorage Glacier Pilots to move within 1 1/2 games of the Pilots for the league lead. Then came a game on Saturday with the Pilots that was postponed at 0-0 after 12 innings. On Sunday, the Pilots won that game 3-0 in 13 innings, then won a following game 3-2 in 11 innings.

On Monday, the Oilers, who entered the game batting .208 as a team, managed just one run and nine hits in 16 innings.

"Things can come back in our favor," Oilers manager Tom Myers said in an interview on 920 AM following the games. "Baseball can change just like that."

The Pilots defeated the Miners on Monday and now have a 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place Pilots, a five-game lead on the 9-10 Oilers and Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks, and a six-game lead on the 11-14 Bucs. There is still plenty of action left in the grind that is the ABL, with the Oilers still having 16 games -- just five at home -- to try and catch the Pilots.

The Bucs stayed hot on Monday, with their second victory being their sixth win in eight games.

Much of the credit for the hot streak goes to Bucs starting pitchers. In the opener, Bucs starter Christian Bergman pitched a complete game for the victory. It was the fifth straight victory in which the Bucs starter went the distance.

Bergman, who entered the game with a 0.93 ERA, allowed four hits and one earned run in improving to 3-1.

"He competed," Bucs manager Mike Garcia said of his starter. "He challenged the hitters and let his defense play behind him."

The Oilers jumped in front in the first inning when Tre Dennis was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Kawika Emsley-Pai.

Oilers starter and loser Brandon Dixon could not hold the lead. Dixon gave up eight hits, three walks and three earned runs in four innings of work. Myers said the difference between Bergman and Dixon was that Bergman was getting ahead in counts, while Dixon was getting behind in counts.

"From my standpoint, once we fell behind in the game, we didn't show enough energy," Myers said. "After two tough losses yesterday, we're at a critical point where we need to find a way to get more positive energy."

The Oilers also had a rough day in the field, committing four errors. The defensive highlight for the day came from Oilers catcher Francis Larson, who threw out six of the seven runners who attempted to steal over the course of the two games.

In the second game, Bucs starter Paul Bargas and reliever Drew Gagnier combined to shut the Oilers out on five hits. Peninsula left 10 runners on base in the game.

Bargas, now 3-1, pitched the first five innings and gave up five hits. Gagnier then gave the Bucs the boost they've been waiting for from their bullpen. The Bucs had been just 3-for-8 in save opportunities before Gagnier held the Oilers hitless and struck out seven over four innings to record the save.

Jarryd Summers took the loss for the Oilers, giving up one run on five hits in five innings.

The Oilers get their first look at the Athletes in Action Fire tonight at Seymour Park at 7 p.m.

Game 1

BUCS 4, OILERS 1

Bucs AB R H BI Oilers AB R H BI

Wells 2b 4 0 2 0 Dennis cf 2 1 1 0

Lusson cf 4 0 2 1 Sqra 3b 3 0 1 0

Gldsmdt 1b 2 0 0 0 Emy-Pai dh 2 0 0 1

Apfel lf 4 0 1 0 Gould rf 3 0 1 0

Pugh c 3 1 0 0 Aliotti 1b 3 0 1 0

Steglich ss 3 1 0 0 Mhylo lf 3 0 0 0

Roberts rf 4 2 3 0 Larsn c 2 0 0 0

Wright dh 2 0 1 1 Blnme 2b 3 0 0 0

Hndrsn 3b 3 0 1 1 Riedl ss 2 0 0 0

Totals 29 4 10 3 Totals 23 1 4 1

Anchorage 020 110 0 --4

Peninsula 100 000 0 --1

E -- Goldschmidt, Sequiera 2, Riedel, Belnome. DP -- none. LOB -- Bucs 10, Oilers 4. SB -- Roberts, Dennis. CS -- Wells, Henderson, Goldschmidt, Dennis. S -- Steglich, Wright, Sequiera. SF -- Emsley-Pai.

IP H R ER BB SO

Bucs

Bergman, W 7 4 1 1 1 3

Oilers

Dixon, L 4 8 3 3 3 0

Lombardozzi 3 3 1 0 0 3

BK -- Dixon. HBP -- by Bergman (Dennis).

Game 2

Bucs 3, Oilers 0

Bucs AB R H BI Oilers AB R H BI

Wells 3 1 2 0 Mills lf 5 0 0 0

Parque 3 0 1 0 Seqra 3b 4 0 2 0

Gldsdt 3 1 1 1 Emy-Pai dh 2 0 0 0

Tisdle 4 0 2 0 Gould rf 4 0 2 0

Roberts 4 0 1 1 Aliotti 1b 2 0 0 0

Lusson 4 1 0 0 Larson c 3 0 0 0

Stglch 4 0 0 0 Mhylo ph 0 0 0 0

Mullns 4 0 0 0 Horst ss 4 0 0 0

Hndrsn 3 0 1 0 Riedl 2b 2 0 1 0

---- -- -- -- -- Blnme ph 2 0 0 0

---- -- -- -- -- Dennis cf 4 0 0 0

Totals 32 3 7 2 Totals 32 0 5 0

Anchorage 000 100 110 --3

Peninsula 000 000 000 --0

E -- Sequiera. DP -- none. LOB -- Bucs 5, Oilers 10. SB -- Sequiera. CS -- Wells, Tisdale 2. 2B -- Parque, Goldschmidt, Sequiera. S -- Steglich, Parque.

IP H R ER BB SO

Bucs

Bargas, W 5 5 0 0 3 2

Gagnier, S 4 0 0 0 0 7

Oilers

Summers, L 5 5 1 1 1 4

Berl 2 1 1 0 0 0

Harvey 1 1 1 1 1 0

Mabeus 1 0 0 0 0 0

WP -- Summers, Berl. HBP -- by Bargas (Aliotti); by Gagnier (Mihaylo).