The pitchers in the Chatham Anglers’ (5-4) bullpen are always sure to have fun when they come to the park. They can often be seen telling jokes or playing games of “two-ball” down the left field line before the start of a game. But the reason they’re smiling this week has nothing to do with pregame shenanigans.

The bullpen is working on a nine and two-thirds scoreless innings streak heading into tonight’s contest with the Cotuit Kettleers (4-5). During the streak, a group consisting of Jonathan Teaney (San Diego), Gabe Friese (Kennesaw State), Brandon Miller (Millersville), and Andre Scrubb (High Point) has given up only two hits and one walk to 13 strikeouts. That comes out to an opponent batting average of .065 and a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 0.31.

“I think that they are all coming in knowing what they have to do right now,” said catcher Nick Sciortino (Boston College), who has been behind the plate for five and two-thirds innings during the streak. “The seventh inning guy knows he needs to get three outs, the eighth inning guy knows he needs three outs, and then Andre comes in and shuts it down.”

In a league where games are often decided by narrow margins, Manager John Schiffner knows the value of having a bullpen throwing this well.

“You need a bullpen—we’ve got one,” said Schiffner. “Our starting pitching is getting us to where we can bridge to the closer, and we have arms that we can use.”

The arm expected to start for the Anglers tonight is the left of Jesse Adams (Boston College). Adams was scheduled to make his first official Cape League start on June 12^th against Brewster, but the game was postponed due to fog. He maintained a 3.05 ERA and opponents hit .205 against him during 62 innings pitched in the college season.

His probable Cotuit counterpart is a fellow lefthander, Daniel Brown (Mississippi State). Brown has given up four hits and one unearned run over a total of seven innings against Yarmouth-Dennis and Harwich.

First pitch is 7 p.m. at Veterans Field in Chatham. The live broadcast begins at 6:40 p.m. with the Anglers Extra Pregame Show and can be viewed/heard on TRZ Teamline or heard toll-free at 1-800-846-4700, code 3841.