News
Scott picks up pair to tune of seven RBIs
Slugger double shy of cycle after Trembley, Guthrie depart
By Doug Miller / MLB.com
07/08/09 3:10 AM ET
SEATTLE -- A night after the Orioles got one hit, they couldn't get more than three innings out of their starting pitcher or more than one inning out of their manager. It's a good thing they have Luke Scott.The outfielder, quietly putting together a monster season, spoke a bit more loudly in a career performance. He singled, tripled, homered and drove in seven runs as Baltimore routed the Mariners, 12-4, before 19,340 in Safeco Field.
He also kept a promise to his skipper.
After manager Dave Trembley was ejected in the bottom of the first inning for arguing with home-plate umpire Tom Hallion, Scott talked to him in the clubhouse.
"He asked me, 'Hey, hit one out for me today,'" Scott said. "I just said, 'If I get a good pitch to hit, I'm going to put a good swing on it.' It was actually my second at-bat. He had been thrown out. I said, 'All right, if I get something in the strike zone.'"
Scott ended up driving in two runs on a first-inning single, two more on a sixth-inning triple, and blasted the first pitch he saw in the seventh inning into the seats in right-center field for a three-run homer.
Scott, who didn't make the cut for the American League for the 80th All-Star Game that will be played next Tuesday in St. Louis, continued to pad his Midsummer Classic-contending numbers.
He now has 17 homers and 50 RBIs to go along with his .305 batting average and is the first Orioles player to drive in seven runs in a game since Ramon Hernandez accomplished the feat on May 23, 2006, also against the Mariners in Safeco.
"Scott came in and said, 'If they throw it over the plate, I'll have a chance,' and I said, 'Well, get me a couple, would ya?'" Trembley said. "And so he hit the triple over [center fielder Franklin] Gutierrez's head, then he came in and said, 'Skip, the next time they throw one over the plate, I'm gonna get you one. I'm gonna hit it out of the ballpark.' I said, 'Do that for me, would ya?' So I'll be damned, he hit one out of the ballpark for me. So I said, 'Wow. Maybe I ought to get thrown out more often.'
"But he's a streak hitter. Luke Scott takes every at-bat personal. He won't give an at-bat away. He'll bear down all the time, and boy, he got some big hits tonight."
Scott wasn't the only Orioles hitter doing damage, though. Adam Jones went 2-for-4 with two runs, Nick Markakis had a hit and scored three times, Nolan Reimold had two hits and drove in three and Melvin Mora added an RBI single.
And it also made up for a subpar start from Jeremy Guthrie, who gave up three earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Guthrie appeared to possibly be injured after walking Ken Griffey Jr. with two out in the first inning and was visited by the team's training staff, but he stayed in the game, giving up a three-run homer to Gutierrez two pitches later.
After the game, he said he was feeling dizzy.
"It's been about three days, the aches and pains and kind of flu-like symptoms," Guthrie said. "I haven't felt great going into it, but I did all my preparation as I normally do and didn't have any real issues throwing the baseball. But today, warming up, the lightheadedness was really strong, to the point where I didn't throw many pitches where I was aiming in the bullpen and it carried over into the game.
"The first couple of pitches, it felt like something that I could never describe, that I've never been through before, where I just was dizzy, light-headed, had no idea where the baseball was going on any pitch that I threw in the entire 2 1/3 innings."
Fortunately, Scott and the rest of the Baltimore bats stepped in and made Guthrie's malady a non-factor. And as for Scott, well, his hot streak continued to confound people.
"He's probably one of the mysteries in baseball for me," teammate Aubrey Huff said. "I've seen him coming up with Houston. He just was an unbelievably streaky hitter. He'll hit six homers in a week and for about two weeks, he can't find it. Once he starts hitting his homers and getting his confidence, he's about as good as it gets. He's probably one of the best hitters in baseball when he's hot."
Scott didn't argue the point.
"I've seen streaky in some ways, yes," Scott said. "I've had some really good power streaks or offensive streaks. But in between, I've had my 1-for-4s, taken my walks. This year, I've been a little more consistent.
"It was a good night for us as a team, a good night for me personally. I was very thankful for it."
Doug Miller is a senior writer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
