NEW YORK - Tanner Scott had returned to his home in Ohio following the Eastern League playoffs, figuring that his next pitch would come in the Arizona Fall League. He never expected to receive a phone call informing him of his promotion to the Orioles.
Director of player development Brian Graham delivered the news, which led to Scott's placement yesterday on the taxi squad. The Orioles selected his contract this morning from Double-A Bowie and he's in the bullpen for the series finale at Yankee Stadium.
"I mean, right when our season ended I was like, 'OK, I'm going to go home.' And I was home for maybe four days. The next minute I get a call and I was like, 'Wow, I wasn't expecting that,'" Scott said.
"I was just finishing the season and getting ready for Arizona and next minute I got a call, so I'm glad to be here.
"It was a good call."
Scott, 23, was 0-2 with a 2.22 ERA in 24 starts at Double-A Bowie, often limited to three innings or fewer while making the conversion from reliever. He allowed 45 hits, walked 46 batters and struck out 87 in 69 innings.
"With the short starts, you can never win, but it was good," Scott said. "I developed my off-speed more. It was a good experience and I'm glad they did it, and I'll see what they want me to do now.
"The slider was a big key, and also getting control of the fastball. Once I got both of those going, it helped a lot."
The Orioles consider Scott to be available today, but he had an extensive work day before yesterday's game. The ideal scenario would be for Scott to debut at Camden Yards during the last homestand, which begins Monday night.
"I'd prefer, but I don't know if the Yankees will cooperate with that thought," said manager Buck Showalter. "He is available. He's had seven days off. He did have a pretty good work day yesterday, but with the idea that he didn't do too much to where he wouldn't be available today."
Scott's promotion also was tied to the value of getting major league exposure before spring training.
"It's good being around the guys and it's going to be a good experience and getting my feet wet here," Scott said, "so it should be good."
The Orioles designated reliever Richard Rodriguez for assignment to make room for Scott on the 40-man roster.
"We'll find out today if he clears (waivers) at 1 o'clock, so we're hoping another one of our guys cleared and we're able to keep him," Showalter said. "He had a good year at Triple-A."
Adam Jones is out of the lineup for the second time in three days due to "general soreness," according to Showalter. Jones' legs took a beating on the artificial surface at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
"Toronto really got him," Showalter said. "That turf is different. Softer. There's a lot of challenges going in there.
"We have three guys in the top 10 in at-bats in the American League, one of which is Adam. He plays through a lot of things over the course of the season. I just think he's scuffling a little bit. Hopefully, physically he can get his legs back under him in the next couple days and get him back out there."
Update: Austin Hays singled with two outs in the second inning to score Chris Davis and give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Davis doubled with one out and Mark Trumbo walked with two outs.
Update II: Didi Gregorius homered for the third straight game and we're tied 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning.
Update III: Trey Mancini doubled down the left field line with two outs in the third inning to score Manny Machado, who singled, and give the Orioles a 2-1 lead.
Update IV: Tim Beckham hit a three-run homer off Sonny Gray in the fouth to increase the lead to 5-1.
Update V: Seth Smith's fielder's choice grounder off Bryan Mitchell in the fifth inning scored Jonathan Schoop for a 6-1 lead.
Update VI: The Yankees cut the lead to 6-3 in the sixth on Matt Holliday's two-run double off Mychal Givens. Ubaldo Jiménez allowed one run and three hits, walked one batter and struck out 10 in five innings.
Update VII: The Yankees scored an unearned run off Brad Brach in the eighth on Beckham's throwing error after Aaron Judge doubled to trim the lead to 6-4. Zach Britton stranded two runners and is trying for the four-out save.
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