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Scott's three-hit game sends Orioles to third straight win

Apr 6, 2008 - 4:09 AM BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- The Baltimore Orioles turned over their roster in the offseason and accepted they may need to rebuild. However, the new cast of players aren't waiting to put up positive results.

Luke Scott went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 6-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

Most notable among Baltimore's offseason additions were outfielder Adam Jones and closer George Sherrill, both of whom were acquired in the mega-deal that sent ace Erik Bedard to Seattle.

Among other players they brought in was Scott, who had spent his past three seasons in a limited role with Houston.

"It feels good to contribute to my new team," Scott said. "I felt comfortable at the plate tonight."

"The more at-bats he gets, the more comfortable he gets," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "He is a good hitter and I just want him to make contact in those situations and use the whole field and hit balls. He did a great job tonight."

All three players contributed in some form for the Orioles, who notched their third straight victory for the first time since a six-game winning streak from July 22-28, 2007.

"We've put an emphasis on a return to baseball fundamentals," Trembley said. "This is what I call 'winning team baseball,' and that's what we are doing right now."

After Mariners starter Miguel Batista (0-1) walked two straight batters to load the bases following a single to Melvin Mora, the righthander surrendered his third walk to Aubrey Huff to trim the Orioles' deficit to 4-3.

"I lost my rhythm; that's the only reason why we lost," Batista said. "It's unacceptable and they took advantage of it."

Scott followed with a sharp grounder up the middle to score Nick Markakis to knot the game at 4-4.

Ramon Hernandez capped the three-run frame with a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Kevin Millar, giving Baltimore a 5-4 advantage.

Baltimore tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Jones lifted a sacrifice fly to deep left to score Millar again.

Reliever Matt Albers (1-0), who came on in relief of starter Adam Loewen, retired the final batter of the fifth and benefited from a double-play grounder in the sixth to get the win.

"My job in middle relief is to come in, eat a couple of innings and keep the score where it is, whether we're up or down," Albers said. "Everybody is coming in and doing a real good job throwing strikes. That's the main thing we've been successful doing."

Two relievers effectively bridged the gap to Sherrill, who pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in as many chances.

Jose Lopez and Jose Vidro each hit their second homers of the season for the Mariners, who have dropped two straight.