daily fog: familiar foes

The Harwich Mariners have suddenly opened up a pretty big cushion between themselves and the third-place team in the East. Thanks to their fifth straight win, a 7-0 victory over Chatham, the Mariners sit in second place at 19-13, with an eight-point lead on the A’s.

But the five-game winning streak hasn’t been the only driving forced behind Harwich’s run.

It also helps that the Mariners are 5-0 against the team that’s chasing them.

That’s a pretty huge swing. More than one-fourth of Harwich’s wins have come against Chatham, and if their record against the A’s was 3-2 instead of 5-0, the teams would have the same number of wins.

Instead, the Mariners have had Chatham’s number. They won 4-1 in the season’s first week and 10-4 in their second meeting. Then they put up a pair of 4-3 wins, both on late rallies. The first ended on a walk-off wild pitch and the second featured a rally to force extra innings, where the Mariners won it. Both times, Harwich got Chatham closer Brad Boxberger to blow saves.

The latest chapter in the story was last night’s 7-0 win, the most lopsided of the bunch. Shaver Hansen (Baylor), who is 8-for-17 against Chatham this year, went 2-for-4 in this one with a home run and two RBI. Andrew Giobbi (Vanderbilt) and Joe Sanders (Auburn) also drove in two, and that was more than enough for Harwich starter Michael Morrison (Cal State Fullerton). Despite throwing four wild pitches and walking five, Morrison was lights-out. He allowed three hits and struck out eight in six shutout innings. Brian Dupra (Notre Dame) and Matt Zielinski (Richmond) combined for three scoreless innings of relief.

The good news for Chatham?

They only have to play the Mariners one more time.

Elsewhere

• Two streaks came to an end last night. Y-D beat Orleans 5-4 to stop the Cardinals’ seven-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Hyannis snapped a six-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over Brewster.

• Orleans almost got the magic going again, rallying from a 5-2 deficit with two in the bottom of the ninth. But Y-D closer Joe Kelly (UC Riverside), who allowed both runs, got Rich Poythress (Georgia) to strike out with the tying run on second base. That made a winner out of Jerry Sullivan (Oral Roberts), who allowed one earned run in six innings. Mike Belfiore (Boston College) drove in what turned out to be a crucial run in the seventh for Y-D. He knocked in Nick Liles (Western Carolina), who had gotten on base and stolen second and third. Liles now has 14 steals.

• Hyannis got a strong performance from Graham Stoneburner (Clemson) to hold off Brewster. Stoneburner allowed one earned run in six innings, striking out seven and walking only two. Matt Ridings (Western Kentucky) struck out five and didn’t walk anybody in three shutout innings of relief. Dale Cornstubble (Central Michigan) hit his first home run of the year.

• Wareham picked up its fourth straight win with a 4-1 victory over Cotuit. Brandon Workman (Texas) turned in another solid start, striking out eight and walking none in seven innings. He allowed five hits and one run. Workman now has 58 strikeouts, which ties the league-leading total from last year by D.J. Mitchell. With Workman likely to get at least two more starts, he should put up some even bigger numbers.

• Darin Ruf (Creighton) went 4-for-4 and Ryan Jones (Wichita State) hit his sixth home run of the year to lead Falmouth past Bourne 9-4. Jorge Reyes (Oregon State) came out of the bullpen in the third and tossed six scoreless innings of relief.

What to Watch For Tonight

• There are two Blairs you should keep an eye on. I don’t think they’re related, but still. Fresh off a dominant performance in his last start, Cotuit’s Seth Blair (Arizona State) will take the hill against Bourne and Nick McCully (Coastal Carolina). Chatham’s Kyle Blair (San Diego) will make his Cape League debut as the A’s visit Y-D.

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