Chatham’s offense erupted on Monday night’s make-up game against Yarmouth-Dennis. For the third consecutive time, the Anglers shut down the Red Sox bats and beat their in-division rival. On Tuesday, the A’s will play a fellow East Division rival, as Chatham (9-6-1) visits Harwich (7-9) at 6:30 p.m. at Whitehouse Field in Harwich.

While Chatham beat Y-D 15-1, the Mariners had Monday off. Over the weekend, Harwich dropped a home-and-home with Orleans, the second game on Sunday by a score of 7-2.

Despite being just two games under .500, the Mariners sit in last place in the balanced East Division. Harwich’s pitching staff has done its job, posting the third lowest WHIP and fourth lowest ERA in the Cape League. But its offense has struggled. No team has a lower batting average (.215)  or on-base percentage (.290) than the Mariners. 

Probable Pitchers

In his last outing, manager Tom Holliday said Parker Scott (Oklahoma State) “looked like he could pitch all night.” Scott found a rhythm and corralled Cotuit, the Cape League’s top offense. He allowed just two baserunners in 3.2 innings of work in his only appearance.  

Like Scott, RJ Dabovich (Arizona State) was also stellar against Cotuit in his last appearance. He did allow one earned run early on, but settled in and struck out four. Dabovich has a 2.57 ERA through seven Chatham innings.

Austin Vernon (NC Central) was scheduled to pitch on Sunday. But Sunday’s rainout, followed by the coaches’ decision to push him back a day and save as many arms as possible for two doubleheaders this weekend, Vernon will now pitch Tuesday. He’s thrown 7.2 innings in three appearances for the A’s, posting 14 strikeouts and a 3.52 ERA. 

Connor McCollough (Kansas State) will start for Harwich in his third appearance as a Mariner. He appeared in relief against Cotuit, pitching one scoreless inning while allowing two baserunners. In a three-inning appearance against Brewster on June 19, McCollough allowed one run on one hit.

Player to watch

Brady Smith (Florida) has gotten a hit in every start he’s made for the A’s. After playing for Cotuit in 2018, he joined Chatham for his second year of summer ball. He’s off to a hot start, 8-for-22 with two extra-base hits and four RBIs. Smith has also now thrown out attempted base stealers in consecutive games.

Stat to know — 9

Since Holliday took over as Anglers manager in 2018, he has nine wins against Harwich, more than any other Cape League team. His 9-0 record comes after the A’s won all six regular season meetings and both playoff games 2018, plus their first contest of 2019. 

Last time they met

Harwich and Chatham met for the first of their six regular season meetings on June 14 at Veterans Field. After conceding first in its first three games, Chatham grabbed a third-inning run, then Paxton Wallace (Wichita State) hit a two-run homer and the A’s went on to win 5-0.