“Twenty-five!” chuckled Joe, as he slapped his friend on the back, when the Pirates had been turned back in their half of ninth. “Jim, you’re a lulu! You had those fellows rolling over and playing dead.”
“I guess we had all the breaks,” returned Jim, smiling modestly.
“Nothing of the kind,” disclaimed Joe. “If anything, they had whatever breaks there were. It was simply a case of dandy pitching. You had them buffaloed.”
“Only one more game to go before we tie our own record,” said Jim. “Gee, Joe, I wish you were going to pitch to-morrow. We’re just in sight of the Promised Land. That will be the most important game of all.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Joe. “It will be something to tie the record, but I want to break it. Day after to-morrow will be the big day. That is, if we win to-morrow, and I think we shall. It’s Markwith’s turn to go in, and he’s going fine. The Pittsburghs aren’t any too good against left-handed pitchers, anyway.”
But whatever the alleged weakness of the Pirates against southpaws, they showed little respect for Markwith’s offerings on the next day. They had on their batting clothes and clouted the ball lustily. Only phenomenal fielding on the part of the Giants kept the score down, and again and again Markwith was pulled out of a hole by some dazzling bit of play when a run seemed certain. Still he worried through until the first part of the eighth. At that time the score was five to four in favor of the visitors. The Giants had been batting freely, but not quite as hard as the Pirates.
In the eighth, Markwith was plainly beginning to wobble in his control. He passed two men in quick succession. That was enough for McRae, and Joe, who had been warming up at the right of the grandstand, was sent into the box.
The Pirates’ scoring stopped then and there. Astley, who was at the bat, fanned on three successive strikes. Brown hit to the box and Joe made a lightning throw to Larry at second, who relayed it to first for a sparkling double play, putting out the side.
The Giants’ half of the eighth was scoreless. All the Pittsburghs had to do now was to hold them down for one more inning, and the winning streak would be broken.