It was a true Cape League game Wednesday night in Orleans. Thousands of fans packed the hills of Eldridge park on a warm summer evening that would witness a low-scoring game where pitching would dominate the night.

"Hats off to those guys. They pitched extremely well against us tonight," Coach John Schiffner. "We didn't come out and support our pitchers tonight."

Box Score

Game 15: Chatham 0, Orleans 3

Coming into Wednesday night's game, the Angler offense had been on a roll, averaging almost five runs a game.

During their three-game winning streak coming into the game, Chatham averaged over seven runs a game. Against Orleans, the Angler bats were silenced, and the Firebirds came away with the victory.

A second inning two-out single from Sheehan Planas-Arteaga (Barry U) would turn out to be the only hit of the game for Chatham, as the Angler bats could seemingly do nothing with the Firebird pitching staff. The Anglers would threaten in the second inning, getting the bases loaded with two outs, but could not deliver.

"Our pitching gave us a chance to win today, but today we just could not get runs on the board," Planas-Arteaga said. "it's behind us now, though."

It was a pitchers duel early on at Eldridge Park, as Chatham starter Aaron Garza (Houston) and Orleans starter Trent Szkutnik (Michigan) matched each other, neither allowing a run through four innings.

One mistake from Garza would be all that Orleans would need, as Firebirds second-baseman Ross Kivett (Kansas State) blasted a 2-1 offering from Garza over the fence in left field to give his team the lead for good.

Orleans would add an insurance run in the eighth inning, and would go on to win by a 3-0 score.

"This team has been pretty resilient," Planas-Arteaga said. "We have done a good job as a team in dealing with our losses and coming back out the next day with our heads high, so I think we will be all set."

Garza would end the night pitching five innings, allowing the two runs and striking out a season-high seven batters. Despite getting his second loss of the young season, Coach Schiffner was incredibly impressed with his Garza's performance.

"He did a fabulous job," Schiffner said. "He pitched well, thats great, but if we could have gotten some runs, it would have been a different story."

This was the third time this season that Chatham has been shutout so far on the season. Many of the Anglers wins have been backed by big-inning production from the offense, but Planas-Arteaga does not believe it is a trend with the team.

"Big innings are going to happen. We have had a lot of big innings this season, and I think it is just a product of us feeding off of each other," Planas-Arteaga said. "I don't think we should read too much into it."

With the loss, both Harwich, Orleans, and Yarmouth-Dennis move a game closer to the first-place Anglers (10-6-1) in the East Division standings. First and fourth-place in the division are only separated by four points.

The Firebirds have taken the first two games in the 2013 edition of the Orleans/Chatham rivalry, but the Anglers will have to rebound quick, as these two teams will match-up again on Thursday night at Veterans Field.

"We will put this game behind us, and move on to the next one," Schiffner said. "This is when the real Cape League starts. Chatham vs. Orleans on July 3 and July 4. We are in a great position right now, but we have to keep it up."

For Coach Schiffner, it does not get much better than a home game at Veterans Field on July 4.

"It is going to be a special day," Schiffner said. "It does not get any better than having a home game at Veterans Field on the fourth of July. Its going to be great."