Showalter wins Orioles debut as Scott homers, Bell doubles to lead 6-3 victory over Angels
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Buck Showalter's difficult task of turning around the last-place Baltimore Orioles began with a victory.
Luke Scott hit a two-run homer and Josh Bell added a two-run double for his first major league RBIs in a big sixth inning, and the Orioles came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 Tuesday night to make Showalter 1-0 as Baltimore's manager.
It was Showalter's first game as a skipper since the end of the 2006 season, when he was with the Texas Rangers. He's the third manager of 2010 for Baltimore, which is a majors-worst 33-73, and drew a roar from the Camden Yards crowd of 16,723 simply by jogging out of the dugout to clarify a call with the home umpire.
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The Orioles had lost three consecutive games and eight of their past nine.
Jeremy Guthrie (5-11) went seven innings, allowing three runs and five hits. The right-hander has now won two of his past three starts after going 0-6 in his previous nine.
With Los Angeles leading 2-1 in the sixth, Francisco Rodriguez (0-2) replaced Angels starter Trevor Bell after a leadoff walk and immediately gave up Scott's shot to right, his 19th homer.
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One out later, Felix Pie singled and stole second, and Rodriguez intentionally walked Matt Wieters. That brought up No. 8 hitter Josh Bell, a rookie third baseman who had been 0 for 9 since being recalled Saturday from Triple-A Norfolk but drove the ball to the left-field corner.
That made it 5-2, and the Angels cut the deficit to two runs on Mike Napoli's RBI single to right off Guthrie. But Baltimore made it 6-3 in the eighth, on Wieters' run-scoring single, his second RBI of the game. That inning ended when Torii Hunter — an All-Star center fielder playing in right for the first time since 1999 — threw out Wieters at the plate. Wieters was trying to score from second on a single by Cesar Izturis.
Michael Gonzalez got five outs, and Alfredo Simon came on to strike out Howie Kendrick for the final out.
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In the fifth, Kendrick had turned on a 95 mph fastball from Guthrie and drove it over the left-field wall for a two-run homer.
Wieters made it 2-1 by doubling home Pie in the fifth. When Pie arrived at the dugout, he was greeted by teammates and coaches for dozens of high-fives and slaps on the back. Showalter, though, remained at his perch on the top step, eyes glued to the field.
After a procession of four consecutive first-time managers, Baltimore is turning to a veteran in Showalter. In his previous stints in the majors, Showalter went 882-833 with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers, getting credit for overseeing quick improvements at each stop and twice winning Manager of the Year awards.
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"Believe me," he said before the game, "if there's some adjustments to be made, I won't be overly cautious."
NOTES: Assuming Showalter finishes out 2010, the Orioles will be the first team in major league history to have three men manage at least 50 games in a season. Dave Trembley went 15-39 before being fired June 4, and his replacement, interim manager Juan Samuel, went 17-34. ... Guthrie hit Maicer Izturis in the first inning, the pitcher's 10th hit batter this season, second-most in the AL. ... The 35-year-old Hunter, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, was replaced in center by Peter Bourjos, who was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to make his major league debut. "Torii had talked about at some point in his career taking a little pressure off and moving to one of the corner spots. I think ... it's a great time to do it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.