Jon Anderson struggled to find the grip on his curveball for the first five batters Saturday afternoon.

During that inning-plus of work, Anderson gave up three hits and a run to Kokomo.

Then, the Grove City High graduate and starting pitcher for the Butler BlueSox gained command of that pitch.

Lights out.

Game over.

Anderson retired 22 straight and didn’t allow another base runner until there were two outs in the top of the ninth as Butler beat Kokomo 8-1 in front of a record crowd at Kelly Automotive Park.

“I struggled with it a little bit early and then I started throwing it for strikes,” Anderson said of his filthy curveball that kept the Jackrabbits off-balance and guessing. “I was able to spot my fastball. It was a good start.”

It was by far the best start in what has been up to this point a solid, if unspectacular, season for the right-hander from Kent State University.

Anderson struck out nine and walked just one in the complete-game victory that saw the BlueSox gain ground in the second-half standings on first-place Chillicothe, which lost 1-0 Saturday.

Butler remained 2 1/2 games behind the Paints after Sunday’s games.

The BlueSox squandered an early 5-0 lead in a 6-5 setback at Champion City Sunday while the Paints lost to Hannibal, 5-2.

Saturday’s gem may have been Anderson’s last start as a member of the BlueSox (17-12 in the second half and 30-26 overall).

“I hope it’s not,” he said. “If it is, it felt good to go out the way I did.”

Butler manager Jason Radwan agreed that it was the best performance turned in by Anderson in two years.

“He got ahead of guys and kept his pitch count down,” Radwan said. “He had been struggling with that in his last couple of starts. Obviously, his curveball was working pretty well for him.

“It was a big performance,” Radwan added. “Jon’s a veteran guy. He’s been here before. It was the best game definitely of this year, and maybe for his entire career here.”

Anderson threw 113 pitches — 75 for strikes.

“He comes out and battles every time out for us,” Radwan said. “He keeps us in games and gives us a chance to win. This year has been no different.”

Anderson got plenty of help from his teammates in front a sellout crown of 1,562.

And Kokomo.

Every batter in the Butler lineup had at least one hit and the Jackrabbits committed three errors in a four-run sixth inning for the BlueSox that put the game away.

Butler forced Kokomo into some mistakes with aggressive baserunning.

The BlueSox stole four bases in the game, including a steal of home by Mitchell Machi on a perfectly executed double-steal.

“I wanted to be aggressive (Saturday) and make them make some plays,” Radwan said. “Obviously, we don’t know them very well, so I wanted to see what they could do defensively. Then I wanted to keep the pressure on them.”

The pressure is on the BlueSox heading into a pivotal week.

Butler is at Champion City today and then will return home Tuesday to host Kokomo followed by another home game Wednesday against Richmond before closing out the regular season schedule at Champion City Thursday.

Notes: No. 9 hitter Michael Patrick reached base in all four of his plate appearances Saturday with a double and three walks. He also scored three runs. “His on-base percentage has been great and he’s starting to swing the bat better. He’s been great for us in that spot in the order.” ... Butler first baseman David Marcus is still chasing the Prospect League triple crown. He ended Sunday’s play second in batting average (.370) and first in both home runs (10) and RBI (47). ... Newcomer Cameron Balego made another stellar play at shortstop in the ninth inning Saturday and is batting .366.

Kokomo 010 000 000 — 1 3 3

Butler 002 004 02x — 8 10 0

W: Jon Anderson 9IP (9K, 1BB). L: Ryan Fleming 5.1IP (2K, 4BB).

Kokomo: Reilly Hawkins 1B, Shea Molitor 3B, Brody Andrews 1B RBI

Butler: Tyler Sullivan 2B RBI, Danny Hrbek 2-1B RBI, Matt Hansen 1B 2-RBI, David Marcus 1B, Cameron Balego 1B, Jamie Switalski 3B, Mitchell Machi 1B RBI, Russell Clark 1B, Michael Patrick 2B 3-R

Today: Butler at Champion City