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.Cody was growing increasingly frustrated.He had grounded out to shortstop in the second inning, completely fooled by a Logan changeup.In the fourth inning, trying to get something going for his team, he had swung for the fences, taking such a mighty cut at another changeup that he nearly fell down while lifting a harmless pop-up to the third baseman.“Hey, Babe Ruth!” Willie said when Cody had returned to the dugout with his head down.“You’re swinging out of your shoes!”As the Orioles came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning with the score still tied at 0–0, Coach tried to keep their spirits up.“Murderers’ Row was just taking a little siesta, men!” he shouted.“The bats are gonna wake up right now!”Instead, Murderers’ Row kept right on snoozing.But, luckily for the Orioles, they got some major help from the Braves’ defense when Robbie led off with a bouncer to second that the second baseman bobbled.Jordy moved him over with a weak ground ball to the first baseman.And Connor followed with an even weaker grounder back to the pitcher, moving Robbie to third.Two outs, yes, but now there was a runner on third.The Orioles couldn’t believe their good fortune.“It’s all that clean living, boys!” Coach shouted from the third-base coaching box.“We haven’t even hit the ball out of the infield, and we can win it right now!”Not only that, but Cody, one of their best hitters, was striding to the plate.Cody gave his bat a quick pep talk—since Marty had busted him, Cody had gotten good at doing this without moving his lips.As he dug in against the Braves’ new pitcher, he kept reminding himself: No Babe Ruth swings.All we need is a base hit.The first pitch was in the dirt for a ball.He swung at the second pitch, a low fastball, and fouled it off.The third pitch was outside.The count was 2–1.He’ll probably come with something right over the plate now, Cody thought.He stepped out and tapped the dirt from his spikes.As the noise from the Orioles’ dugout and the stands grew louder and louder, Cody could feel the adrenaline coursing through him.He dug in again and waggled the bat menacingly.The pitcher peered in for the sign.He nodded and came to the set position, ready to deliver.Cody took a deep breath, waiting, waiting…Suddenly a voice rang out.“TIME!”It was Marty, coaching at first base.He stood there with his hands raised until the umpire granted him the time-out.Then he motioned for Cody to join him for a conference.Over in the third-base box, Coach stared at Marty as if he’d lost his mind.Marty met Cody halfway down the line and draped a skinny arm around his teammate’s shoulders.“Just hear me out on this, okay?” he said.“Don’t go all Mount Vesuvius until I’m finished.”Cody was dumbfounded.“This better be good,” he said.“You should bunt,” Marty said quietly.“Ex-cuse me?”“Bunt,” Marty repeated.“B-U-N-T.”“I know how to spell it,” Cody said.“But why would I do it?” He stared at Marty for a moment with a puzzled frown.Then he said, “Tell me the truth.Are you insane?”“Au contraire,” Marty said calmly.“Here’s why you bunt.Number one, they won’t be expecting it from a big kid.Number two, Robbie’s pretty fast—he should score easily.Number three, the pitcher doesn’t look like a very good fielder, so you’ll probably leg it out for a hit.Even with your, um, less-than-blazing speed.No offense.”“Oh, none taken!” Cody snorted.“Why would I be offended?”“And number four,” Marty said, “let’s face it, you haven’t exactly been knocking down the fences tonight.”Cody couldn’t argue with that.But bunt? Here? In this situation?“Trust me, big guy,” Marty said, giving him a whack on the butt, big-league style.Then he trotted back to the coach’s box with a self-satisfied smile, like someone who had just saved the planet from a deadly disease.Walking back to the plate, Cody conducted an internal debate with himself.Bunt or swing away? Should I listen to the little geek? Within seconds, he had made up his mind.He took a couple of mighty practice swings and dug into the batter’s box again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]