He took off his glove and walked over to the bench, amid a chorus of commiserating shouts from the stands.
McRae beckoned to Joe.
“Jump in, Joe,” he directed briefly, “and hold them down. They’ve only got one run. I’m depending on you to see that they don’t get any more.”
Joe went into the box and tossed two or three to Mylert to get the range of the plate. He had a greeting from the fans that warmed the cockles of his heart.
There were two men out and Hobbs was dancing around first. Joe saw out of the corner of his eye that he was taking too big a lead, and snapped the ball like a bullet to Burkett. Hobbs tried desperately to get back but was nipped by a foot.
Joe had finished putting out the side without pitching a ball.
“Some speed that,” came from the stands.
“I guess Matson’s slow.”
“We don’t have to pitch to beat you fellows,” piped a fan and the crowd roared.
But nothing could hide the fact that the Red Sox were ahead. McRae brought all his resources into play and sent two pinch hitters to the plate. But though one of them, Browning, knocked out a corking three-bagger, the inning ended without results.