Chatham returns home to Veterans FIeld on Sunday night after four consecutive road games. The Anglers will take on Brewster at 7 p.m. for the second time in 2019.

The Anglers are playing their best baseball of the season, having won seven of their last eight games and moving into first place in the East Division. Chatham remains one-half game and two points ahead of Yarmouth-Dennis entering Sunday. 

Chatham’s pitching has dominated most of the season, but the first week of July, the bats have followed behind. The A’s pitching staff is now No. 2 in ERA and No.1 in opponents slugging percentage. Recent success has pushed the Anglers’ offense to No. 1 in OPS and No. 4 in batting average.

Paxton Wallace (Wichita State) and Brady Smith (Florida) combined for five of Chatham’s seven hits on Saturday as the A’s beat Cotuit 5-3 in a seven-inning game. 

Probable Pitchers

Kolby Kubichek (Texas) will start for the Anglers. Kubichek has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the entire Cape League. In four appearances, he has thrown 15 innings and allowed just one earned run and posting a 0.60 ERA. His last start, the right-hander threw five shutout innings with six strikeouts against Y-D. He’ll use his sinking fastball to induce weak contact and strikeouts.

Chandler Jozwiak (Texas A&M) is the projected starter for Brewster. The lefty has made three appearances for the Whitecaps, allowing four earned runs in 15.2 innings of work. He’s walked seven batters on the mound this season.

Players to Watch

Wallace impressed Tom Holliday with his ability to hit left-handed pitching when Wallace knocked two extra-base hits against Cotuit lefty Jackson Wolf on Saturday. Wallace now has seven hits in his last seven games played. 

Tyler Doanes (West Virginia) has started almost every game against a lefty starter. Doanes is hitting .286 with almost as many walks (7) as strikeouts (8). Doanes didn’t register a hit on Saturday, but he stole two bases and scored a run on a sacrifice fly. He now has five stolen bases, a team-high. 

Stat to know — 7 

Chatham is in first place because of its divisional record. The A’s are 7-0-1 against Eastern opponents this season, the lone tie coming against Brewster. The Anglers have reached the halfway point of the regular season, but 16 of their final 22 games will come against divisional opponents. 

Last time they met

Brewster and Chatham met for the first time at Stony Brook Field in Brewster on June 20. The A’s jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before the Whitecaps clawed their way back. After Brewster tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, Chatham added two more runs in the eighth, But then the rain came and washed away the two runs before the inning was over, The game ended in a 5-5 tie.