Scott and Yacabonis with opposite outings last night

Tanner Scott stood at his locker late last night and wondered why anyone would want to talk to him before he headed home. He didn't feel like he had much impact on a game that the Orioles lost 17-6.

Scott earned praise and the extra attention for stopping the bleeding with his three scoreless innings - a career high - and only one hit allowed after the Orioles recalled him from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day.

"Just taking it one pitch at a time, just trying to do what we needed to do and just not to allow any more runners to cross the plate," Scott said after making his first appearance with the Orioles since tossing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts on June 29 against the Indians.

"He (manager Brandon Hyde) called my name and that was my goal."

The gametime temperature of 97 degrees didn't faze Scott, whose previous career high in innings was 2 2/3 in Game 2 of a Sept. 26, 2018 doubleheader in Boston.

"It's fine," he said. "It's hot here. It was hot in Norfolk. I'm used to the heat, so it's not that bad."

The good for Scott would be to build off last night's outing and avoid a return trip to Norfolk. The Orioles will need a roster spot Tuesday for Dylan Bundy.

"You just try to do the same thing," he said. "Attack pitch by pitch and go from there and try to not have any runners cross the plate. That's the main goal."

As Scott wrapped up his media session, Jimmy Yacabonis sat facing his locker and tried to regroup. Nine of the 10 batters he faced were able to reach base and he allowed seven runs and eight hits with a walk.

Hyde praised Yacabonis on Friday for a 10-pitch scoreless outing but thought the right-hander's stuff was flat last night.

"I guess they were a little flat," Yacabonis said. "I just caught too much of the plate. They're a good-hitting team, they've got momentum, and then the hits just kind of pieced together there.

"I thought I had a lot of guys 0-2 and couldn't put them away."

Yacabonis replayed the outing, verbalizing what he had stored in his head.

"I thought I made a good pitch to (Rafael) Devers," he said. "That changeup, I don't know if he was sitting on it and was able to put a barrel on it. Slider to (Mookie) Betts 0-2 that's low and away and he just chops it through the six-hole. I have to execute the pitches a little better and that doesn't happen. But it's just one of those days. A lot of balls found holes.

"Even the first guy up, J.D. (Martinez), I throw him a two-seam in and he just rolls it over down the line and it gets by Rio (Ruiz). Walk (Andrew) Benintendi, you can't do that, but still, challenged him.

"(Christian) Vázquez got that bloop hit and toward the end I was just out of steam and everything was running back to the middle and they got a couple line drive hits. But I've got to be better than that and get the outs. Just unfortunate. Pitching well and one outing like that can really skew the numbers.

"Just unfortunate."

* As former Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina waits to be inducted today into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, I keep going back to the moment that I finally cracked his inner circle as a beat writer at The Baltimore Sun.

Mussina broke into the majors in 1991, six years before I began covering the team on a full-time basis. I had only shed my small college duties to assist in reporting on 2,130 and 2,131 and the 1996 playoffs.

(Some kid named Jeffrey Maier forced a rewrite on deadline.)

You don't build meaningful relationships and gain trust and respect inside the clubhouse through cameo appearances and from the auxiliary press box.

Like so many other players, Mussina clearly had his media favorites and it was a short list. He wasn't necessarily disrespectful to others, but he could be difficult. The expression and tone would change, along with is availability, depending on who approached him.

I was on the outside and didn't take it personally. I just knew that I wasn't one of his guys. Others felt that way about Brady Anderson, but I bonded with him.

One of Mussina's signature starts for me came in Game 1 of the 1997 American League Division Series in the Kingdome in Seattle. So loud that you could barely think and using the landline phone in the press box was pretty much useless except for one-way conversations.

I shouted to a copy editor that I filed and hung up.

Mussina outpitched Randy Johnson in a 9-3 victory, allowing two runs with no walks and nine strikeouts in seven innings. Johnson surrendered five runs and seven hits in five innings. And the Orioles won the series in four games.

I happened to be staying at the team hotel and arrived following Game 1 at the exact same time as Mussina, which led to shared elevator ride and small talk. And I happened to be waiting outside for a cab the following day at the exact same time as Mussina, who invited me to ride with him to the ballpark.

Timing is everything.

The conversation was mostly about family and raising kids. About anything except baseball. I'm sure he doesn't remember a single minute of it.

I won't forget it.

I cracked the inner circle.