Manager Jim Lefebvre says he plans to take Gary Scott out of the lineup to ease some of the pressure that has to be building on the young third baseman because of his struggles at the plate again this season.
Scott has been sterling in the field-only one error-but can`t seem to break through at the plate in his second try at staying with the major-league club.
Through Thursday, Scott was hitting just .091 (4 for 44). He went 0 for 3 with a walk Thursday but hit the ball solidly twice-the last time in the bottom of the ninth when he drove a pitch to deep right field that would have gone out if the wind hadn`t been blowing in and a heavy rain falling.
”I felt like I had two good at-bats out of four today,” said Scott. ”I don`t want to make a big issue out of this because it`s still early in the season and I know I`m going to hit.”
Lefebvre said he still thinks Scott will come around but believes it will help if Scott takes some time off and veteran Luis Salazar moves back to third.
”He might just need to sit down and let himself relax a little bit,”
said Lefebvre. ”You get to a certain point where you start to press a little, and you need to sit back and relax.”
Black eye: Scott has been working with Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams on his hitting every morning before regular hitting practice begins. In one of the workouts this week, Scott took a ball off his face in the batting cage. He has a beaut of a shiner.
More eye news: Umpire Jerry Crawford missed Thursday`s game with an umpire`s worst nightmare: an eye injury. Crawford worked home plate in Wednesday`s game and was scheduled to umpire third on Thursday, but he went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with what was believed to be a scratched cornea.
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With Crawford out, the Cubs and Phillies played with three umpires:
Charlie Williams at home and Gerry Davis and Doug Harvey covering the infield. The first: Philly rookie Kim Batiste hit his first major-league home run in the fourth off Frank Castillo. Batiste had one home run all last year in 122 games of Triple-A ball.
Making up: Last week`s rainout with the Cardinals has been rescheduled as part of a twi-night double-header June 8 in St. Louis. The first game will start at 5:35 p.m.
Happy birthday: Thursday was the 78th anniversary of baseball at Wrigley Field. In the first game of what was then known as Weeghman Park, the Chicago Whales of the Federal League beat the Kansas City Packers 9-1.