He had a foretaste of what they would do when he got up to bat in Sam’s place and struck out. It was no discredit to Joe, for the Blues had a fine pitcher, still it added to his nervousness.
“If that’s a sample of what your new pitcher can do we’ll take a few more runs!” yelled a Blue sympathizer.
“Oh, he only did that for fun!” yelled Rodney.
“Yes,” added Tom Davis. “He’s saving his arm to strike you fellows out. Go to it, Joe! Don’t let ’em rattle you.”
The Stars took a brace, whether it was the knowledge that Joe was to pitch or not, but they certainly braced, and in that inning got enough runs to make the score six to eight in favor of the visiting team.
“Now, Joe, hold ’em down!” pleaded Darrell, “and we can do the rest, I think.”
“I’ll try,” answered our hero.
It would be too much to expect Joe to do wonders, but he did very well. He only allowed two hits in the inning when he first pitched and only one run came in, chiefly through an error on the part of the third baseman.
“I guess we’ve got their number now,” exulted Darrell, when it came the turn of the Stars to bat. “Keep up the good work, boys. We’ve got ’em going.”