Baseball Game Preview: Cumberland Clippers vs. Pilgrim Patriots

The Cumberland Clippers will face off against the Pilgrim Patriots at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Cumberland sitting on eight straight wins and Pilgrim on three.

Cumberland is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Rhode Island's top teams: Bishop Hendricken, who was ranked first at the time (Cumberland was ranked third). The Clippers had just enough and edged out the Hawks 4-2. Surprisingly, this marked the Clippers' fifth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.

Liam Monahan spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on six hits.

At the plate, Cumberland's victory was truly a team effort as four different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Harris, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and one double. That's the most RBI Harris has posted since back in April. Another was Owen Koczera, who went 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Pilgrim never let their opponents score on Wednesday. They walked away with a 3-0 win over Cranston East. Surprisingly, this marked the Patriots' fifth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.

Tyler Boudreau looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one hit in three consecutive appearances.

Cumberland pushed their record up to 15-4 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.5 runs on average over those games. As for Pilgrim, their victory bumped their record up to 7-10.

Cumberland came out on top in a nail-biter against Pilgrim in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-2. Will the Clippers repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.