Gut-check time for third baseman Gary Scott.
Manager Jim Lefebvre took Scott out of the starting lineup for the first time this season against the Cardinals Friday night.
Scott, who made the starting lineup last year but stayed only 31 games because he failed to hit, is off to a repeat of that nightmare.
He hit .288 this spring, but has died at the plate since the season began. Before Friday, Scott was 3 for 26 (.118), all singles.
”He`s looking at balls that are right down the middle of the plate,”
Lefebvre said.
Lefebvre says he is confident Scott, a .300-plus hitter in college and the minors, will hit his stride.
– First baseman Mark Grace appeared in his 182nd consecutive game Friday night. That is the longest stretch of consecutive appearances in his four-year career and the longest active string of appearances in the National League. The last time Grace missed a game was Sept. 20, 1990.
– Outfielder Doug Dascenzo is the only position player who has yet to start a game this season. He has appeared as a defensive replacement five times.
– When Ken Patterson pitched against the Philadelphia Phillies last week, he became the 137th player to appear in at least one game with both the Cubs and White Sox.
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– Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith and catcher Tom Pagnozzi were presented with 1991 Gold Glove awards before the game. It was Pagnozzi`s first Gold Glove. For Smith, it was a record 12th straight.
– Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston stepped out of the shower before Friday night`s game to find a surprise. Somebody had taped a copy of Baseball America to his locker with a picture of Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin on the cover. Last winter, Dunston signed a four-year, $12 million contract to become the highest-paid shortstop in baseball-for a few weeks. Then Larkin signed a five-year deal for $25 million.
– Forty-seven years ago Friday, at Wrigley Field, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 3-2 in an Opening Day game that marked the major-league debut of future Hall of Famer Albert ”Red” Schoendienst.