Читать книгу Frank Merriwell's Support; Or, A Triple Play онлайн

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Carker was the next man up, and Frank admonished him to wait for the good ones. Greg was beaten already, and his appearance showed it. Batch was full of confidence, and he put the balls right over.

Some batters have a faculty of working a pitcher, often getting first base on balls; but the fellow who does this is usually a good hitter, or he stands up to the plate, as if he was anxious to “line it out.” When a pitcher is satisfied that the batter is longing to hit he gets wary and declines to put the ball over. On the other hand, let the pitcher suspect the batter is trying to get a base on balls, and he does his best to “cut the plate.”

The first two balls pitched were strikes, yet Carker swung at neither of them.

“It’s all off!” growled Hodge. “He’s the third victim.”

Then Batch sent in a wide one, and, knowing there were two strikes on him, Greg reached for it.

Somehow Carker caught that ball on the end of his bat and sent it skipping down past the first-baseman, who made an ineffectual effort to block it.