The Moose Jaw Miller Express had an up-and-down weekend.

They started things off with a 6-4 extra innings loss to the Brooks Bombers on Friday and then bounced back to shutout the Regina Red Sox, 4-0, on Saturday, but the weekend finished with another loss on Sunday, as Moose Jaw fell 4-3 in Weyburn.

The Millers come out of the weekend with an 8-7 record on the year, but they’re looking for more consistency following a five-game winning streak during the week.

“(Sunday) was disappointing because it was a regression,” said head coach Michael Hunt after the team committed four errors in the loss. “We’ve had a couple of good games where we’ve locked things down and to do that today against a divisional team, one that we made an emphasis of it being the sixth game in six days, no excuses, and it bit us.

“We didn’t handle the baseball very well, we didn’t take care of business and all the runs that we gave up were avoidable in one way or another.”

Centerfielder Ty Schindel led off Sunday’s game with a home run – his second of the season – but the Millers couldn’t string together any big innings in the loss, instead settling for just one more run in the fourth and one in the fifth.

Catcher Cole Warken was 1-for-4 with a double, but otherwise, Moose Jaw’s seven hits were spread throughout the lineup and the game.

Hunt credited Weyburn starter Garrett Waters, who threw a complete game with six strikeouts and one walk in the win, with keeping them off balance.

“He had a good secondary pitch that didn’t allow us to time a lot of things up,” said Hunt. “Offensively, we did a pretty good job with the conditions and what we had to face, but just didn’t take care of business on the other end.”

Jesse Marks started for Moose Jaw, allowing three run – two earned – on six hits over five innings of work. He walked three and struck out one.

“We’re slowly stretching him out, getting him back into that starting rotation and back to being that guy that can go deep for us in games like he did last year,” said Hunt.

Reliever Grant Westmoreland took the loss on Sunday, allowing the winning run to score on a double by Ulysses Fluellen.  That was the only run that Westmoreland surrendered on two hits over three innings out of the pen.

A five-game winning streak to start the week helped the Millers get back over .500 and their win against the Red Sox on Saturday night was a key divisional win. After taking a step back on Sunday, Hunt is confident that the team will get back on track quickly when they face the Beavers again on Tuesday.

“They definitely answered the call (Saturday) against Regina after having a similar type of experience on Friday against Brooks, so they’ll come back with a fire in their belly,” said Hunt.

The Millers and Beavers square off on Tuesday night at Ross Wells Park. First pitch is at 7 p.m.

Kloke’s Gem Powers Millers Past Regina

Hunter Kloke was on point right from the first inning on the mound and the starting pitch helped lead the Millers to a shutout win over the rival Red Sox on Saturday.

Kloke held Regina to just three hits over 7 1/3 innings of work with five strikeouts and no walks.

“I just came to the ballpark ready to throw, I was rested up and ready to go,” said Kloke after the win on Saturday.

The Brescia University product improved to 2-0 in three starts this year. After walking six batters in his first two starts, Kloke felt like he was in full control throughout Saturday’s game.

“I felt great, I felt like I was able to locate the zone, control where my pitches went and I felt like I had a little bit extra in my tank tonight,” said Kloke.

Tanner Emes and Ben Dalke finished off the shutout with 1 2/3 innings out of the pen, combining to hold Regina to just two hits, while striking out two to preserve the win.

Kloke said the team is really coming together over the past week with more wins starting to come.

“We’re coming together and playing better baseball, so it’s great,” he said.

Schindel had a big night on Saturday with a pair of doubles as he finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while second baseman Lane Harvey was 2-for-3 with an RBI.